At least 68 detainees were killed when a United States air strike hit a migrant detention centre in Saada, northwestern Yemen, on April 28, 2025, Amnesty International said on Tuesday. The rights group is urging the strike be investigated as a possible war crime, saying 47 people were wounded and that the compound had been inspected previously by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations with no signs it was being used for military purposes. Survivors interviewed by Amnesty still lack adequate medical care and economic support, and the US Central Command had not publicly released any investigation findings a year after the attack.

The strike and its toll

On April 28, 2025, an air strike hit a detention facility in Saada, in northwestern Yemen, killing at least 68 people and injuring 47, Amnesty International said in a report released on Tuesday. The facility had been part of a larger prison complex and, according to Amnesty, had been visited previously by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations who didn't find evidence the site was being used for military purposes.

The casualties reported by Amnesty make the Saada attack one of the deadliest civilian incidents tied to a US strike that the rights group has documented in recent years.

Survivors’ needs and missing answers

Amnesty said it interviewed survivors nearly a year after the Saada strike and found people still coping with severe physical and psychological harm. The report names six Ethiopian men who were wounded; five of them can't work because of their injuries and most now rely on money from relatives. Four remain in Yemen, while two returned to Ethiopia.

One survivor identified as Jirata, 30, told Amnesty he lost a leg in the attack and had a metal rod inserted in the other leg. He said he can't work and wants reparations that would help him rebuild a livelihood.

Mastheads

Amnesty said many survivors are unable to afford medical treatment and that long-term care needs are unmet.

After the strike, a US defence official said the military was assessing reports of civilian casualties. Amnesty says that, a year later, the US Central Command had not publicly released the findings of any investigation or said whether anyone would be held accountable.

What Amnesty found and legal questions

Amnesty’s report concluded the United States failed to take all doable precautions to avoid civilian harm in the Saada strike and called for independent, transparent investigations.

The group argued the pattern of strikes by the US between March and May 2025 should have prompted stronger safeguards and internal review processes. Nadia Dar, director of Amnesty International USA, said the administration’s approach to those operations "should have set off alarm bells in the USA and around the world," and she accused Washington of weakening protections while showing "a dangerous disregard for the lives of civilians endangered by armed conflicts."

Calls for investigations in cases involving high civilian death tolls draw on principles in international humanitarian law that require parties to take doable precautions to avoid or minimise harm to civilians. Amnesty’s use of the term "possible war crime" signals the group believes the facts merit scrutiny under those principles; the report urges prompt steps to determine whether unlawful conduct occurred and whether reparations or other accountability measures should follow.

Political implications for US policy and allies

The report lands amid broader questions over how the US conducts and oversees strikes in conflict zones. Amnesty tied the Saada attack to a concentrated period of US air operations in early 2025 and said the pattern reflects an erosion of safeguards. The absence of publicly released investigations or transparent oversight has raised questions about how such operations are authorised and reviewed.

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"The Trump administration’s approach to its air strikes in Yemen from March to May 2025 should have set off alarm bells in the USA and around the world," said Nadia Dar, director of Amnesty International USA.

This article was created with AI assistance.