Airstrikes launched by Saudi Arabia in Yemen during the month of January that targeted the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) killed at least 13 civilians, according to the Yemen Data Project.
The worst case of civilian deaths recorded by the YDP was a January 2 strike on a house in the city of Sayun in the Hadhramaut Governorate in eastern Yemen, which killed at least seven civilians.
Another strike on a residential area in the Dhale Governorate in southwestern Yemen killed at least six civilians and wounded seven. Two civilians were also wounded by a Saudi airstrike on a military site in the Mahrah Governorate, Yemen’s easternmost province, which borders Oman.
The YDP recorded a total of 12 Saudi air raids in January and three in December, which marked the first Saudi airstrikes in Yemen since Riyadh reached a ceasefire with the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, in 2022. The renewed Saudi airstrikes started after the STC began capturing territory from Saudi-backed forces in eastern and southern Yemen. Saudi-backed forces quickly routed the STC, and the group appears to have disbanded.
Following Saudi Arabia’s airstrikes in Yemen, the Trump administration approved a $3 billion deal to sustain Riyadh’s fleet of US-made F-15 fighter jets, a key component of the Saudi Air Force. The US also approved a $9 billion sale of Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi air war against the Houthis in Yemen from 2015 to 2022 was known for its brutality, as many strikes targeted civilian infrastructure and killed civilians. Riyadh relied on US support to sustain its air campaign, and the war also involved a blockade that the US helped enforce. According to the UN, by the end of 2021, the war killed at least 377,000 people, with more than half dying of starvation and disease caused by the siege.
In 2025, the US was responsible for the most civilian casualties in Yemen as the Trump administration launched a heavy bombing campaign dubbed Operation Rough Rider from March 15 to May 6, which was aimed at stopping the Houthis from stopping its blockade on Israeli shipping and attacks on Israel over the genocidal war in Gaza, a goal the US failed to achieve.
According to the YDP, the US was responsible for more than half of the 1,334 civilian casualties caused by airstrikes it recorded in 2025, a total that includes dead and wounded. According to Airwars, the US strikes killed more than 250 civilians. Israel was responsible for the rest of the civilian casualties, as it also conducted attacks on Yemen throughout the year.
