Air Raids In Marib Reach Record High
Saudi-led coalition air raids increase by 53% month-on-month in September
Coalition air raids jumped 53% month-on-month in September, more than doubling in Marib to 112 - the highest monthly rate of bombings in the governorate since the start of the air war in March 2015. The surge in air raids in Marib reflected an escalation in fighting on the ground in the contested governorate.
68% of the civilian casualties in air raids in the month happened in 3 incidents in Marib, two of which were bombings of civilian vehicles that killed 5, including one child, and left 3 other civilians injured. On 8 September an air raid hit a food truck, no civilian casualties were recorded. Four children were injured in the bombing of a shop in Mahalih district of Marib on 4 September. Another four civilians were killed, including one woman and a child when an air raid hit a civilian house on 7 September in Khadir district of Taiz.
Following a dip in air raid numbers in August, when bombing numbers were down 54% month-on-month to the second lowest monthly number recorded so far this year, in September air raid rates resumed the higher rates seen since the Ramadan ceasefire. Month-on-month civilian casualties in bombings declined by 17% to 19 dead and injured in September compared to 23 in August.
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AIR RAIDS UP 53% ON AUGUST 2020
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES DOWN 17%
TOTAL NUMBERS MARCH 2015 - SEPTEMBER 2020
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES 18,534
AIR RAIDS 21,998
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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.
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SEPTEMBER 2020
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In September, 11% of bombings hit civilian targets** 16% hit military targets. In 73% of air raids in September the target could not be identified. Of the 60 air raids where the target could be identified, 42% of bombings hit civilian sites. 58% of identifiable targets were military.
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Of the 60 air raids where the target was identified in September 2020
- 9 hit residential areas, killing 4 civilians, including 1 woman and 1 child.
- 4 hit farms.
- 3 hit civilian vehicles including a food truck, killing 5 civilians including 1 child and injuring 3 more civilians.
- 2 hit market places.
- 1 hit a water tank.
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MOST HEAVILY BOMBED GOVERNORATES SEPTEMBER 2020
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MARIB: Breakdown of districts targeted
Marib continues to be the most heavily bombed governorate of 2020. More than 29% of all Saudi-led coalition air raids in 2020 have targeted Marib. In September, 51% of air raids hit Marib. Mahliyah was he most heavily bombed district in the governorate with 11 of the 19 civilian casualties in the month happening in two air raids in the district.
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AL-JAWF: Breakdown of districts targeted
Khab Wa Al-Sha'af district of Al-Jawf was the most heavily bombed district countrywide for the second consecutive month in September with 26 air raids. No civilian casualties were recorded in the governorate. 56% of all air raids countrywide in September hit Al-Jawf and Marib governorates.
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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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