CIMP QUARTERLY REPORT Q2: APRIL - JUNE 2021
This is the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project quarterly report, providing an overview of all incidents of armed violence reported in April, May and June 2021 across the country that had a direct civilian impact. The report covers civilian casualties, incident distribution, type of armed violence and impact upon civilian infrastructure, as well as providing key analytical takeaways from the quarter. ANALYTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
More civilians were killed and injured by armed violence in Yemen during Q2 2021 than Q1 2021 571 civilian casualties were reported during Q2 2021, marking a 26% increase from the 452 civilian casualties reported during Q1 2021. Each month saw an increase in civilian casualties throughout Q2, with June seeing 249 civilian casualties, the highest since September 2019. Furthermore, this is the second highest quarterly civilian casualty count since Q3 2019. Among the casualties were 181 civilian fatalities, the highest seen since Q3 2020, increasing from 140 civilian fatalities in Q1 2021.
121 children were killed or injured by armed violence during Q2 2021; an increase from Q1 Child casualties increased from Q1 to Q2 2021, rising by 34% from 90 to 121. Among these, the number of child fatalities reported also rose from 28 to 43, the highest since Q3 2020 in both cases. The highest number of child casualties were reported in Hudaydah, at 28, over half of whom (15) were on account of remnant explosive ordnance, including landmines and UXO. Similar patterns were seen in Ta’izz, which saw the second highest number of child casualties during Q2 2021; of 23 child casualties in Ta’izz, 13 were on account of landmines and UXO.
Sa’dah saw more civilian casualties than any other governorate, amid daily shelling on border areas 150 civilian casualties were reported in Sa’dah governorate in Q2 2021, the highest since Q4 2019, and almost threefold the 58 civilian casualties reported in the governorate during Q1 2021. Of these 150, 108 were reported specifically in Ar Raqw area, a market town situated at an informal border crossing point in Monabbih, on the governorate’s western border with Saudi Arabia, where a large proportion of the population are understood to be migrants from East Africa who have made the journey north through Yemen. Shellfire was responsible for 89 of these casualties, while another 19 were the result of border patrol shootings. The persistence of such incidents in Sa’dah’s border areas puts migrant communities at particular risk. Similar patterns were reported in nearby Ash Shaykh area, and in Shada’a district. During Q1 2021, 14 civilian casualties were reported in Ar Raqw.
Shelling remains the deadliest type of armed violence, and resulted in more civilian casualties in Q2 2021 than during Q1 2021 During Q2 2021, more civilians were killed by shellfire (76) than any other type of armed violence. Including injuries, shelling caused the highest number of country-wide civilian casualties, at 231, 40% of the total 571. Moreover, this marks a 24% increase from the 186 civilian casualties shelling caused during Q1 2021. Sa’dah governorate saw the highest number of civilian shelling casualties, at 115, including 21 civilian shelling casualties reported during the last week of May alone. This was followed by 85 civilian shelling casualties in Ma’rib city, driven largely by the high rate of missiles and rocketry reported to have impacted civilian neighbourhoods in the city during past quarter.
The number of civilian casualties reported in Ma’rib almost doubled from Q1 2021 Ma’rib saw 110 civilian casualties during Q2 2021, up from 60 during Q1 2021. Moreover, more civilian casualties were reported in Ma’rib during the first six months of 2021 (154) than throughout 2019 and 2020 combined (151). This was driven in large part by repeated instances of missiles and rocketry falling on Ma’rib city, particularly in the vicinity of one of the main military sites in the west of the city; shelling on Ma’rib city has resulted in 102 civilian casualties so far this year, over double the number from the same cause in 2020 (40). This included two incidents that resulted in 20 or more civilian casualties, both in June. Airstrikes were responsible for another 20 civilian casualties in Ma’rib during the first half of 2020.
Despite increasing casualty numbers in Ma’rib, incidents impacting IDP sites decreased Amid a renewed offensive, hostilities swept through Ma’rib during Q1 2021. At least nine separate IDP sites were directly impacted by armed violence in the governorate throughout the first three months of the year, as the frontlines pushed rapidly east towards Ma’rib city, through areas hosting a high IDP population. However, as the momentum of the Ma’rib offensive slowed during Q2, so too did reports of IDP sites being impacted. The last IDP site reported to have been directly impacted by hostilities in the governorate was As Sawabin camp, on the more northerly of the main roads to the west of Ma’rib city, on 3 April. Although the intensity of hostilities has started to pick up again, there has been little significant movement to the frontlines. Nonetheless, while fighting is ongoing, the governorate’s IDP population remain particularly vulnerable to further displacement, especially if the lines of control see any sudden shifts.
1 Ta’izz saw a significant decrease in civilian casualties during Q2 2021 Despite seeing the third highest number of civilian casualties across the country, the 72 civilian casualties reported in Ta’izz mark a decrease of almost a half from the 128 civilian casualties reported in the governorate during the previous quarter. The drop off was due in large part to a drop in shelling casualties. As frontlines in the governorate reactivated during the first quarter of the year, shelling resulted in 83 civilian casualties. Fighting has since quietened, and during Q2 2021, shelling resulted in eight civilian casualties. A hand grenade incident, however, following a dispute at Ash Shajarah qat market in the Hawban area of Salh, in eastern Ta’izz city, resulted in 22 civilian casualties, including one fatality, during Q2. Previously, from when CIMP began monitoring at the start of 2018 up until the end of Q1 2021, hand grenades had only been responsible for four civilian casualties in Ta’izz.
Hand grenade casualties increased, including due to device mishandling The increase in civilian hand grenade casualties has increased not only in Ta’izz, but across Yemen. Over the past six months, hand grenades have been responsible for 56 civilian casualties, more than double the 24 seen during the previous six months. Among the hand grenade incidents to impact civilians so far this year, six were on account of the devices being mishandled, with reports of children playing with devices and of devices being brought into domestic spaces. These six instances of hand grenades being mishandled cumulatively resulted in 24 civilian casualties. This was most notably the case in Ibb, where seven children were among the casualties, reflective of the growing threat as profuse weaponisation encroaches upon everyday life.
Civilian casualties on account of small arms fire increased, linked to an uptick in armed violence away from the country’s main frontlines Small arms fire (SAF) resulted in the second-highest number of civilian casualties country-wide during Q2 2021, at 148, up for the second consecutive quarter and rising from 104 during Q1 2021. The highest number of civilian SAF casualties during Q2 was reported in Ibb governorate, at 42, followed by 22 in Lahij, as isolated and dispute-driven incidents of violence appear to be on the rise. Across the country, marketplaces have been a particular flashpoint for incendiary incidents, often the result of escalating disputes, against a backdrop of economic tensions, price inflation and rising commodity prices. Other factors driving high civilian SAF casualties were the uptick in border hostilities in Sa’dah, mentioned above, which saw 19 civilian SAF casualties during Q2 2021, and ongoing protest-related violence, which resulted in 11 civilian SAF casualties over the past quarter.
Armed violence continues to impact civilian homes, although numbers have decreased compared to the previous quarter 157 incidents of armed violence were reported to have directly impacted civilian houses over the past quarter, displacing as many as 717 households. Nonetheless, this marks a decrease from Q1 2021, when 224 incidents were reported to have impacted homes, displacing as many as 1,034 households. In Q2 2021, 73 incidents were reported to have directly impacted homes in Hudaydah, following by 40 incidents in Ma’rib, putting women and children at particular risk due to the domestic nature of the space being impacted. Over two thirds of these incidents (110; 70%) were on account of shellfire. Moreover, 70 civilians were reported to have been killed or injured as a result of incidents that directly impacted civilian houses.
Three incidents of armed violence impacted schools during Q2 2021 Despite seeing a decrease from Q1 2021, when five incidents of armed violence directly impacted schools, during Q2, another three schools were impacted by armed violence in Yemen. Moreover, in one instance, four children were injured, when a drone was reported to have dropped a shell on a school in At Tuhayat, Hudaydah, on 27 May. The children had reportedly been playing in the yard when the incident occurred. Another school was demolished by explosives in Qa’atabah district, Dali’, in May, and another hit by artillery shells in Az Zahir, Bayda, in June. Such incidents not only critically endanger children, but in turning schools into unsafe spaces, serve to restrict access to education for surrounding households..
2 NATIONWIDE SNAPSHOT: CIVILIAN IMPACT FROM INCIDENTS OF ARMED VIOLENCE Q2: APRIL - JUNE 2021
Total Civilian Casualties: 571 Civilian impact incidents: 333 Fatalities: 181 Psychosocial trauma incidents: 315 Children / Women: 43 / 9 Vulnerability incidents: 224 Injuries: 390 Children and Women: 165 Children / Women: 78 / 41 Children / Women / IDPs and Migrants: 36 / 14 / 9
TOTAL NUMBER OF CIVILIAN IMPACT INCIDENTS AND CIVILIAN CASUALTIES BY MONTH 280
249 240
200
174 169 160 148 131 120 113 107 108 95 80 80 61 40 40
0 Total number of Total civilian Total civilian fatalities Total civilian injuries incidents casualties
April May June
3 DISTRIBUTION OF CIVILIAN IMPACT INCIDENTS IN Q2 2021 BY GOVERNORATE
Sana'a city
Sa`dah Al Al Jawf Hadramawt Mahrah Amran
Ma'rib Sana'a Al Hudaydah Shabwah Dhamar Al Ibb Bayda' Abyan Ta`izz Lahij
Socotra
Aden
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS PER HUB AND TOTAL CIVILIAN CASUALTIES PER QUARTER 1000 2,000
800 1,600
45 36
600 70 1,200
65 39
102 184 400 108 237 46 800 No of incidents of No 60 70 119 93 No of casualties 51 56 28 78 317 70 106 98 44 60 97 55 76 110 62 72 32 57 39 200 64 400 215 71 75 257 35 43 42 294 266 178 250 182 243 325 331 188 176 100 96 156 0 139 34 39 35 84 88 48 46 37 49 38 30 43 0 Q1 2018 Q2 2018 Q3 2018 Q4 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2019 Q3 2019 Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021 Q2 2021
Aden Al Hudaydah Ibb Sadah Sanaa Number of civilian casualties Number of civilian fatalities 4 NUMBER OF INCIDENTS IMPACTING CIVILIAN STRUCTURES DURING Q2 2021 BY HUB
Aden 12 2 1 4 15
Ibb 8 4 31
Sana'a 35 10 1 1 1 1 1 14
Al Hudaydah 50 24 3 1 1 20
Sadah 17 1 1 2 3 49
2
et e arms arms F Mark ehicles
No structur IDP settlement Civilian houses Civilian v Local businesses Houses and F Civilian gatherings
NUMBER OF INCIDENTS IMPACTING INFRASTRUCTURE DURING Q2 2021 BY HUB
Aden 2 1 1 2 1 2
Sanaa 1 1 2 1 1 2
Al Hudaydah 1
Sadah 1 1
e uel F acilities acilities acilities astructur Aid F t Infr Health F First Responders ducation F al/Religious Sites E vernment Compounds anspor Cultur r 5 Go T INCIDENTS IMPACTING CIVILIANS IN Q2 2021, BY TYPE OF ARMED VIOLENCE
Shelling 155
Airstrike 49
SAF 61
Landmine 17
SA/LW 9
Sniper 11
IED 8
Drone strikes 6
Hand grenades 6
UXO 11
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES BY TYPE OF ARMED VIOLENCE IN Q2 2021 260 240 231 220 200 180 160 155 140 148
120 100 80
60 61 49
40 41 36 29 26
20 19 17 1 1 14 14 13 1 1 9 8 6 0 6
W IED SAF UXO SA/L Sniper Airstrike Shelling Landmine Drone strike Hand grenades
No of Incidents Civilian Casualties 6 NUMBER OF INCIDENTS, FATALITIES AND INJURIES BY CIVILIAN STRUCTURE IN Q2 2021
Civilian houses
No structure
Houses & farms
Civilian vehicles
Local businesses
Farms
Market
Civilian gatherings
IDP settlement
Infrastructure (transport)
Infrastructure (education)
Infrastructure (protected site)
Infrastructure (health)
Infrastructure (aid)
Infrastructure (fuel)
Infrastructure (gov compounds)
Infrastructure (first responders)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240
Number of incidents Total fatalities Total Injuries
DIRECT PROTECTION IMPLICATIONS OF INCIDENTS OF ARMED VIOLENCE ON CIVILIANS
RES TRICTED FREEDOM OF DISPLACEMENT LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD MOVEMENT AND ASSEMBLY OBSTRUCTION TO FLIGHT
Number of Number of Number of Number of affected households affected households affected households affected households 71 7 55 3 36 4 45 0 Number of Number of Number of Number of Incidents Incidents Incidents Incidents 157 143 47 1 7 INDIRECT PROTECTION IMPLICATIONS - HOUSEHOLDS EXPERIENCING RESTRICTED ACCESS
78,928 140,633 26,082 households facing restricted households facing restricted households facing restricted access to: access to: access to: Transport, telecommunication, Health, education, rst Water facilities, aid, food responders, worship media, fuel, governmental buildings, recreation, electricity storage
Number of Number of Number of Incidents Incidents Incidents 9 9 2
The Civilian Impact Monitoring Project is a monitoring mechanism for the collection, analysis and dissemination of open source data on the civilian impact from armed violence in Yemen, in order to inform and complement protection programming.
For further information, please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website: civilianimpactmonitoring.org 8