|
Yemen Air War 2021 Data Overview
Saudi Coalition Bombings Surge Following End of U.N. War Crimes Investigations
Yemen Data Project recorded a surge in air raids* and civilian casualties in the Saudi-led air war in Yemen following the UN Human Rights Council vote in October 2021 that brought to an end the mandate of the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen. The October vote ended U.N. investigations into violations of international humanitarian law, human rights law and war crimes in the conflict, closing the only international route to accountability for Yemenis. It was the the first time in the UN Human Rights Council's history that a resolution was defeated.
In the two months following the GEE's dissolution, Saudi coalition bombing rates increased by 43% in December compared to October. Civilian casualties in the air war reaching the highest monthly rate in 2.5 years. The 648 air raids recorded from October to the end of the year marked the heaviest quarter period of bombing since July-September 2018. December 2021 saw the highest monthly rate of air raids (250) since June 2020. The 94 civilian casualties recorded in Saudi-led air raids in Yemen in December 2021 marked the highest number of civilian deaths and injuries in a single month since August 2019.
The year ended with a 224% month-on-month increase in civilian casualties from the 16-month high of November. At least 32 civilians were killed and 62 injured in December, more than in the 11 previous months of 2021 combined. A single air raid killed at least 18 civilians and injured a further eight when the Saudi coalition bombed a residential area in Maqbanah district of Taiz on 3 December - the deadliest air raid for civilians in 2021.
At least 70 civilians were killed in coalition bombings last year, 14 children were amongst the dead a further 117 civilians were injured including 26 women and children. Women and children accounted for almost a quarter (23.5%) of all civilian casualties in 2021.
During 2021 the Saudi-led coalition carried out an average of 5 air raids per day. Air raid rates for the year dropped by 17% from the 82% year-on-year rise in 2020. Despite the reduction in air raids, the maximum number of individual airstrikes was just 5% lower in 2021 compared to the previous year. Yemen Data Project recorded up to 7,240 individual Saudi-led coalition airstrikes* - an average of almost 20 individual airstrikes per day in 2021.
Civilian casualty rates in the air war in 2021 continued the declining trend seen since the first year of the bombing campaign. In 2021 the number of civilian deaths and injuries (187) in coalition air raids was the lowest of any year since the air war began in 2015 with numbers declining by 12% year-on-year from 212 in 2020 to 187 in 2021.
Since 2017, coalition bombing rates have declined year-on-year to the 2019 low of 1,181. This trend ended in 2020 with an 82% increase in bombings to 2,155. Despite the reduced rate in 2021, air raids were still more than 50% higher than the 2019 low.
Yemen Data Project has recorded a total of 18,755 civilian casualties in 24,276 air raids* from March 2015 to the end of 2021 with up 72,362 individual airstrikes.
Air war Focus on Marib in 2021
The year was marked by escalating violence in contested districts of Marib following a renewed effort by pro-Houthi forces to take territory in the governorate, resulting in Marib being the most heavily bombed governorate countrywide for the second consecutive year. Almost half (49%) of all Saudi coalition air raids carried out in Yemen in 2021 hit Marib. At least 884 air raids with up to 5,322 individual airstrikes targeted the governorate in 2021, a 21% increase from 2020. Civilians were also reportedly killed and injured in multiple incidents in the pro-Houthi ground offensive that saw them take significant territory in the south of the governorate in the second half of 2021.
|
|
|
Worst Violence in Al-Hudaydah Since 2018 Stockholm Agreement
Al-Hudaydah was the worst governorate for civilians in the air war in 2021. Almost a quarter (23.5%) of all civilian casualties in the bombing campaign in 2021 were in Al-Hudaydah. Of the 44 civilian casualties recorded in the governorate in the year, 38 occurred in November and December. In 2021, Al-Hudaydah saw the highest rate of air raids and the highest number of civilian casualties in the governorate since the de-escalation brought in by the Stockholm Agreement in December 2018.
In December, air raids surged in the Yemeni capital to the highest monthly rate in four years. YDP recorded at least 30 Saudi coalition bombings in Amanat al-Asimah (the governorate of the capital) in the final month of 2021, the highest monthly number of air raids in the city since December 2017 - the month pro-Houthi forces killed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in the capital.
|
|
|
Bombings in Residential Areas Responsible for 64% of Civilian Casualties
Saudi-led coalition air raids hit farms, schools, healthcare facilities, market places, a food storage facility, an IDP settlement, and transport infrastructure in 2021. Air raids in residential areas caused 64% of all civilian casualties. 119 civilians were killed and injured when air raids hit residential areas. The deadliest air raids for civilians in 2021 were in Taiz, Marib, Shabwa, Al--Hudaydah and Mahwit, four of which were in bombings of residential areas. Bombings of civilian vehicles and buses resulted in 19 civilian casualties. An air raid on a civilian vehicle in Shabwah killed seven civilians including three children and one woman on 18 September. Two separate air raids that hit civilian vehicles on 26 December in Taiz governorate injured 11 civilians.
In 2021, 28% of bombings hit military targets, 16% hit civilian targets**. In 56% of air raids the target could not be identified. Of the 794 air raids where the target could be identified, 37% were civilian, 63% were military.
|
|
|
The highest number of air raids recorded in any year remains 2015 at 5,444. This was also the deadliest year in the air war when at least 3,876 civilians were killed and at least 4,521 injured.
|
|
|
FOR MORE DETAILS AND COMMENT CONTACT:
Iona Craig (UK) +447446598852 iona.craig@yemendataproject.org
|
|
|
Data Summary for December 2021
The year ended with 250 coalition air raids in December resulting in 94 civilian casualties. This was a 12% increase in bombings from November and the highest civilian casualty toll in a single month since August 2019. In keeping with the rest of the year, Marib was the main focus of Saudi-led coalition bombings.
Taiz saw the highest monthly rate (25) of bombings in the governorate since May 2018. There were also notable rises in air raid rates in both the capital governorate of Amanat al-Asimah (30) and Shabwa (10) where bombings reached the highest monthly rates in both governorates since December 2017.
|
|
AIR RAIDS UP 12% ON NOVEMBER
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES UP 224% FROM NOVEMBER
In December, 20% of air raids hit non-military** targets, 33% hit military. In 39% of air raids the target could not be identified. In the 171 air raids where the target could be identified, 71% of bombings hit military sites and 29% non-military.
|
|
|
Of the 171 air raids were the target could be identified in December
- 19 hit residential areas, killing 29 civilians including 3 children and 1 woman. A further 25 civilians were injured.
- 5 hit government compounds, killing 3 civilians including 1 child and 1 woman. A further 7 civilians were injured including 3 children and 2 women.
- 4 hit private businesses in the capital, injuring 2 civilians.
- 2 hit civilian vehicles in Taiz governorate, injuring 11 civilians.
- 1 hit a food storage facility in the capital, injuring 16 civilians.
A school, a water and electricity site, farms, a university, a television station, a fuel station, and transport infrastructure were also amongst the targets hit in December.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FOR MORE DETAILS AND COMMENT PLEASE CONTACT:
Iona Craig (UK) +447446598852 iona.craig@yemendataproject.org
|
|
|
*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.
|
|
|
**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.
|
|
|
|
|
