CIMP Monthly Report - December 2023

Civilian casualties, including fatalities, saw an increase from November to December 2023
Armed violence was responsible for 102 civilian casualties across Yemen in December 2023, marking a slight increase of 2% from the 100 civilian casualties reported in November. Fatality numbers also increased, from 31 to 35. The number of children reported among the casualties, however, almost halved, down to 14 in December from 27 in November. There was also a decrease in the number of women among the casualties, down to eight, from 13 in November. For the fifth consecutive month, Sa’dah saw the highest civilian casualty count, making up almost a third of the countrywide casualties, primarily on account of shellfire and light weapons fire. However, hand grenades were responsible for more civilian casualties countrywide than any other type of armed violence, at 27.

December 2023 saw the highest monthly grenade casualty count since May
10 civilians were killed and another 17 were injured in hand grenade incidents in December 2023, the highest monthly grenade casualty count since May. 18 of the casualties were the result of one mass casualty incident. On 19 December, five civilians were killed and 13 civilians were injured when a hand grenade was detonated inside a house in Al-Buraiqeh district, Aden, following a dispute. This was the highest fatality count to be reported in a single grenade attack this year. The remaining nine casualties were the result of three separate grenade incidents, in Ibb, Aden and Abyan, all on account of the devices being mishandled, killing five civilians and injuring another four. At least 18 of the 118 grenade casualties reported in 2023 were the result of devices being mishandled, reflective of the prevalence of and widespread accessibility to arms in the country, coupled with a lack of familiarity with safe operating procedures.

Shelling resulted in more civilian casualties in December than in November
Although no civilians were killed by shellfire in December 2023, shelling resulted in injuries to 17 civilians, all on the western Sa’dah border. All but one of the casualties was the result of a mass casualty incident in Monabbih district where, on 11 December, 16 civilians were injured, including 14 migrants, when artillery shells hit Al-Maqna area. These are the first reports of civilian casualties in the Al-Maqna area on CIMP records; typically, Ar Raqw and Al Umm Shaykh see the weight of reports of civilian casualties in Monabbih district. The remaining shellfire casualty was a civilian who was injured when a main road was hit in Shada’a district. Not only do such incidents put civilians in direct way of harm, but due to the difficult mountain terrain, any incidents that impact main roads also threaten to cut off already-isolated communities from critical supply lines, services and trade networks.

Explosive remnants of warfare result in 18 civilian casualties, in line with annual average
Six civilians were killed and another 12 injured in landmine and UXO incidents over the past month, totalling 18 casualties, in line with the 2023 monthly average ERW casualty count. Although no children were killed by ERW incidents in December 2023, five were injured. This was only the second month in 2023 to see no child ERW fatalities. Hudaydah saw the highest number of ERW casualties for the fifth consecutive month, at five, but this was joint with Ma’rib, which last saw the highest ERW casualty count in the country in July. Another three ERW casualties were reported Sa’dah, two in Jawf, and one in each Shabwah, Hajjah and Bayda, marking a wider geographic dispersal to the ERW incidents than is typically seen. In Shabwah, a civilian was killed by a remnant shell he had brought into his house in Ataq city. This marked the first ERW incident to be reported in the governorate since January 2023. In Ma’rib city, similar to the Shabwah incident, a civilian had brought a shell into his house and was attempting to dismantle it when it detonated, killing himself and another family member, and injuring two more civilians.

Small arms fire was responsible for the highest civilian fatality count in December, at 16
Small arms fire (SAF) incidents resulted in 24 civilian casualties in December 2023, down from 30 the month before, but accounting for the second highest casualty count by type of armed violence across the country. The fatality count, however, was the highest in the country, at 16, the same as last month. Incidents and associated casualties were dispersed across 11 different governorates, but Ibb saw the highest SAF casualty count, at seven. Two of the shootings took place in markets, in Aden and Ibb, and another shooting broke out between two armed factions at a checkpoint in Ma’rib following a dispute over the passage of fuel trucks. More than half of the casualties were on account of dispute-related violence, including at least two land disputes. SAF was responsible for 398 civilian casualties in 2023, surpassing the 2022 total of 369.

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