The United States Pentagon has acknowledged that American military operations killed 153 civilians and wounded 243 others in 2025, a dramatic increase from only two civilian deaths recorded in 2024, in a report submitted to Congress that critics have already described as an undercount. The Pentagon’s Central Command assessed that the three strikes “more likely than not” resulted in civilian harm. The organisation Airwars, which independently tracks civilian harm in armed conflicts, reported that at least 238 civilians may have been killed in Operation Rough Rider alone. The US military’s strikes on such vessels have killed more than 200 people since September 2025, according to tallies compiled after each strike. The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment on the report or on the cuts to its civilian harm programme.