Addis Abeba — Amnesty International has called for an immediate and transparent investigation by the United States into a deadly air strike on a migrant detention center in Sa’ada, north-western Yemen, which killed and injured dozens of Ethiopian migrants in April 2025, describing the attack as a likely war crime.
The human rights organization said the strike, carried out by the US military as part of “Operation Rough Rider” on 28 April 2025, amounted to an indiscriminate attack that violated international humanitarian law. The facility, it said, held migrants detained by Huthi authorities solely for irregular immigration status and was “a known civilian site.”
“The harrowing testimonies from survivors paint a clear picture of a civilian building, packed with detainees, being bombed without distinction,” said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This was a lethal failure by the US to comply with one of its core obligations under international humanitarian law: to verify whether the object attacked was a military objective.”
Amnesty’s in-depth report, “It is a miracle we survived: US air strike on civilians held in Sa’ada detention centre,” is based on interviews with 15 Ethiopian survivors and analysis of satellite imagery, photos, and videos. The organization identified 16 Ethiopians, mostly men in their twenties, who were killed in the attack.
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According to the Huthi Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, 117 African migrants were detained at the time of the strike, 61 killed and 56 injured. Survivors told Amnesty they were trapped inside the facility when the first blast hit a nearby building. As they tried to flee, guards reportedly fired warning shots to prevent them from escaping before a second air strike struck the migrant detention block directly.
Many survivors’ sustained severe injuries, including amputations, nerve damage, and head trauma. “You just wish you were dead there,” said Hagos, a 20-year-old Ethiopian who lost his leg in the explosion. Another survivor, Desta, who lost one eye, said the attack “killed lots of people, made us disabled and left others in shock and terror.”
Amnesty said the civilian nature of the facility had been well known for years and that humanitarian organizations had regularly visited the compound. It added that the US “should have known” the site was a civilian object, especially after a Saudi-led coalition air strike using a US-made munition killed more than 90 detainees in the same prison complex in 2022.
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The organization said it formally requested clarification from US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in August 2025 regarding the intended target and the precautions taken before the strike. CENTCOM responded briefly, stating that it was “assessing all reports of civilian harm.”
Amnesty urged the US to investigate the attack as a war crime and ensure full reparations to victims and their families. It also called on the Huthi authorities to investigate reports that prison guards refused to release detainees seeking safety and to end the arbitrary detention of migrants based solely on their immigration status.
“Survivors of this attack deserve nothing less than full justice,” Beckerle said. “They must receive full, effective, and prompt reparations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, and guarantees of non-repetition.”
Amnesty further warned that critical US mechanisms established to mitigate civilian harm are now at risk under the Trump Administration and urged the US Congress to ensure those safeguards remain adequately funded and implemented.
