On October 29, 2025, Amnesty International sounded a global alarm, calling for an urgent war crimes investigation into a U.S. airstrike that devastated a migrant detention center in Sa’ada, north-western Yemen. The airstrike, which took place on April 28 as part of Operation Rough Rider, killed and injured dozens of African migrants and has since been described by the human rights group as an "indiscriminate attack" that inflicted "catastrophic civilian harm."
The Amnesty report, released after months of investigation, paints a harrowing picture of the events that unfolded in the early morning hours. According to the organization, the U.S. strike targeted a facility known for housing migrants detained by Yemen’s Huthi authorities, most of whom were being held solely for irregular immigration status. Amnesty’s research included in-depth interviews with fifteen survivors—all Ethiopian men, most in their twenties—as well as a meticulous review of satellite imagery, photographs, and videos from the site.
Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, did not mince words in the report: “The harrowing testimonies from survivors paint a clear picture of a civilian building, packed with detainees, being bombed without distinction. This was a lethal failure by the US to comply with one of its core obligations under international humanitarian law: to do everything feasible to verify whether the object attacked was a military objective.”
Survivors recounted the chaos and terror of that morning. Most were asleep when a first explosion rocked the compound, likely targeting a prison administration building about 180 meters away. Jolted awake, the detainees rushed to the gate, screaming for help and pounding for release. Instead, prison guards fired warning shots to keep them inside. Minutes later, a second strike hit the migrant detention center directly. The result was devastation: of the 117 African migrants reportedly detained at the time, 61 were killed and 56 injured, according to Huthi authorities.
Amnesty’s investigation found no evidence that the center was being used for military purposes. In fact, the facility’s civilian nature was widely known—it had been used for years to detain migrants and was regularly visited by humanitarian organizations. The report also referenced a grim precedent: in January 2022, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit another detention facility within the same compound, killing over 90 detainees. That attack, too, was carried out with a U.S.-made precision guided munition.
“Given this context, the US should have known the facility was a civilian object and that any aerial attack could result in significant death and injury to civilians,” Amnesty stated. International humanitarian law requires attacking forces to do everything feasible to verify whether a target is a military objective—and to refrain from attack if there is doubt. The Amnesty report asserts that the U.S. failed this basic test.
The aftermath for survivors has been grim. Fourteen of the fifteen interviewed sustained critical injuries: two lost legs, one lost a hand, and another lost an eye. Many continue to require medical treatment months later, often paying for it themselves or relying on struggling families back home. One survivor, Hagos, described his ordeal: “You just wish you were dead there… I am begging for some money from friends to get the treatment and pills.” Another, Desta, said, “The attack was really terrible, it killed lots of people, it made us disabled and left others in shock and terror.” (*Names changed for security reasons.)
Amnesty International formally requested information from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in August 2025, seeking clarification about the military objective and precautions taken. CENTCOM responded only briefly, stating it was "assessing all reports of civilian harm," taking them "seriously" and reviewing them "thoroughly." U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins echoed this in a statement to The Washington Post: “We take all reports of civilian harm seriously and are working to release the assessment results for Operation Rough Rider soon.”
Calls for accountability have grown louder. Amnesty’s Beckerle insisted, “The US must conduct a prompt, thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the air strike on the Sa’ada migrant detention centre and make the results public. Survivors of this attack deserve nothing less than full justice. They must receive full, effective, and prompt reparations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, through an effective and accessible mechanism.”
The report also leveled criticism at the Huthi authorities, urging them to investigate why detainees were not evacuated or allowed to seek safety and to end the arbitrary detention of migrants based solely on their immigration status and nationality. The Huthi Ministry of Justice and Human Rights responded to Amnesty, providing casualty lists and denying wrongdoing regarding detention conditions, but did not clearly address the issue of evacuation or safe shelter.
This airstrike was part of a broader U.S. campaign against Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea. In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the campaign as “unrelenting” and focused on restoring freedom of navigation. “The minute the Houthis say, ‘We’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones,’ this campaign will end,” Hegseth said on Fox News. President Trump, for his part, pledged to use “overwhelming lethal force” until the militants ceased their attacks on civilian and military ships.
Yet, the tragedy in Sa’ada has sharpened the focus on the human cost of such military operations. The Amnesty report contends that critical systems in the U.S. for reducing civilian harm are under threat and calls on Congress to ensure that civilian harm mitigation and response mechanisms remain robust and well-funded.
As of late October, the Pentagon had not issued a detailed public response to the Amnesty report. The Hill reached out for comment, but no substantive new information has been released. Meanwhile, survivors and families of the victims wait for answers, justice, and reparations.
The Sa’ada airstrike has become a flashpoint in ongoing debates about the conduct of war, the responsibilities of military powers, and the rights of civilians caught in the crossfire. As calls for a transparent investigation grow, the world watches to see whether the U.S. and its partners will heed Amnesty’s demand for accountability—or whether this tragedy will join a long list of unanswered grievances from Yemen’s years of conflict.
