Civilian Casualties At Ten-Month High
Medical centre bombed in Sa'ada, airstrikes in Sirwah reach record high
In May, Yemen Data Project recorded the highest number of civilian casualties in the air war in 10 months. There were more civilian casualties (25) in Saudi-led air raids in May than in the previous seven months combined. The comparatively high monthly casualty rate was despite a 25% month-on-month decline in air raid numbers from April. In Sirwah district of Marib, YDP recorded one of the highest monthly rates of individual airstrikes* in any district since the air war began.
Air raids killed 12 civilians in the month and injured a further 13, seven children were amongst the dead and injured, taking the civilian casualty toll in the air war to more than 18,600 since March 2015.
The deadliest air raids were on a civilian house in Majzar district of Marib on 7 May that killed seven and injured four; an air raid on a residential area in Al-Dhaher district in Saada on 21 May, which killed three and injured one, and the bombing of a medical centre in the Haydan district of Sa'ada on 18 May. An air raid in a residential area of Rada'a, Al-Bayda on 10 May, killed one civilian and injured two women.
Children accounted for six of the 11 casualties in the strike in As Sahari district of Majzar in Marib on the afternoon of 7 May. Two children were killed and a further four injured. The bombing of the medical centre in the Jabal Marran area of Haydan in the middle of the day on 18 May, killed one civilian and injured a further six. Up to two individual airstrikes* hit the medical centre.
Airstrikes in Sirwah at record high in May
Despite the month-on-month countywide decline in air raids from April, bombings in the Sirwah district of Marib increased slightly in May, to 35 from 32 in the previous month. Air raids in the district have averaged 35 per month from March through May in parallel with intensified violence on the ground, instigated by an ongoing Houthi military offensive launched earlier this year in the governorate.
In May, YDP recorded up to 390 individual air strikes* in Sirwah - an average of more than 12 individual strikes per day. This is one of the highest number of possible individual strikes recorded in any district in any month since the start of the Saudi-led bombing campaign in March 2015, second only to the month of June last year when up to 430 individual airstrikes were recorded in Majzar district of Marib.
Sirwah district in Marib is the most heavily bombed district in the country. At least 1,517 air raids have hit Sirwah with up to 5,832 individual airstrikes since 2015. Over 21% of those individual airstrikes* hit the district this year.
Marib has been the mostly heavily bombed governorate for more than a year - in keeping with the military confrontations. In May there were more than three times as many air raids in Marib than in the second most heavily bombed governorate of Al-Jawf.
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AIR RAIDS DOWN 25% ON APRIL 2021
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES UP 213% FROM APRIL
TOTAL NUMBERS MARCH 2015 - MAY 2021
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES 18,613
AIR RAIDS 23,093
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The highest number of air raids recorded in a single month remains September 2015 at 920, which was also the deadliest month in the air war when at least 756 civilians were killed.
April 2015 saw the highest number of civilian casualties (fatalities and injured) in a single month at 1,745.
In YDP's data the air raid* figure is the most conservative. The true number of individual airstrikes ranges from the minimum of 23,093 to a maximum airstrikes of 67,444 since March 2015.
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MAY 2021
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In May 11% of bombings hit civilian targets** and 21% hit military targets. In 68% of air raids in May the target could not be identified. Of the 29 air raids where the target could be identified, 66% of bombings hit military targets. 34% of identifiable targets were civilian.
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Of the 34 air raids where the target was identified in April 2021
- 7 hit residential areas, killing 11 civilians and injuring 7.
- 1 hit a medical facility, killing one and injuring 6.
- 1 hit a market place.
- 1 hit a farm.
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MOST HEAVILY BOMBED GOVERNORATES MAY 2021
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MARIB: Breakdown of districts targeted
Marib continues to be the most heavily bombed governorate. 58% of all Saudi-led coalition air raids in May targeted Marib. Sirwah was the most heavily bombed district in the country for the fifth consecutive month with 38% of air raids in the month in Marib hitting the district.
At least 105 air raids have hit Sirwah in the last three months with up 997 individual airstrikes in 92 days - an average of 10.8 airstrikes per day from March though May. The district is the most heavily bombed countrywide. In Sirwah in May, YDP recorded one of the highest rates of individual airstrikes in any district in any month since the start of the air war.
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SA'ADA: Breakdown of districts targeted
Al-Jawf was the second mostly heavily bombed governorate in May with 16 air raids. 75% of all air raids in the month hit the governorates of Marib and Al-Jawf.
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This extensive monitoring effort has allowed ACLED and YDP to provide the most comprehensive coverage of political violence across Yemen.
ACLED's methodology on casualty counting differs from Yemen Data Project's air raids data. See here for more details on ACLED's methodology and coding decisions used in their data collection.
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FOR MORE DETAILS AND COMMENT PLEASE CONTACT:
Iona Craig (UK) +447446598852 iona.craig@yemendataproject.org
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*Air raid refers to a single incident. One air raid incident includes all air strikes on a single location within approximately one hour and therefore may comprise multiple airstrikes. Airstrikes per air raid can vary greatly from a couple to several dozen. Read more.
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**Non-military targeting may be an indication of fighting taking place in urban areas resulting in the possible change of use of buildings and/or escalated targeting of civilian sites. The dataset lists target category and subcategory for each incident, where information on the target is available. When listing permanent structures the target category refers to the original use of the target e.g. a school hit by an air raid is referred to as a school building with no further assessment made on its use at the time of the air raid, or any possible change of use over the course of the conflict.
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