CIMP Monthly Report - January 2024

January 2024 saw the lowest monthly civilian casualty count on CIMP records
Armed violence was responsible for 67 civilian casualties in Yemen in January 2024, down 34% from December 2023, and the lowest monthly casualty count on CIMP records, since the project commenced at the start of 2018. The number of fatalities among the casualties decreased by 11%, from 35 in December to 31 in January, the joint second lowest monthly fatality count on CIMP records. There was, however, an increase in the number of children among the casualties, up to 15, from 14 in December; 22% of the civilian casualties reported in Yemen in January were children, compared to 14% in December.

34 civilians were killed or injured in small arms fire shooting incidents
Small arms fire (SAF) shootings were responsible for more civilian casualties than all other types of armed violence combined, including 20 fatalities and 14 injuries. These incidents included a shooting at a checkpoint in eastern Ma’rib at the end of a month, in which three women were killed and another seven civilians injured when the car they were travelling came under fire for failing to stop at the checkpoint. All ten civilians were reportedly migrants. Another eight shooting casualties were found off the coast of Midi district, in Hajjah, washed up on the Dhu Al-Hirab islands. The eight fishermen had gone missing the week beforehand, and all showed signs of gunshot wounds, although the circumstances remain unclear. The remaining 10 incidents resulted in 16 civilian casualties, driven by a range of incidents, from dispute-driven violence, another checkpoint shooting, a marketplace shooting, and civilians being caught in the crossfire of armed clashes, across Ma’rib, Shabwah, Jawf, Sa’dah, Ibb, Amran, Aden and Dali’.

Explosive remnants of warfare were responsible for a quarter of the January casualties
Explosive remnants of warfare (ERW) including landmines and UXO were responsible for 17 civilian casualties in January 2024, 25% of the total monthly casualty count. Nine civilians were killed by ERW, and another eight were injured. Moreover, a third of the casualties were children, who remain particularly susceptible to ERW incidents. Three quarters (76%) of the January ERW casualties were reported in Hudaydah, which has consistently seen the highest ERW casualty numbers in the country since the start of 2018. Ad Durayhimi district saw the most ERW casualties in January, at eight, with ERW incidents also reported in At Tuhayat, Bayt Al-Faqih, Al-Garrahi and eastern Hudaydah city. Outside Hudaydah, three ERW casualties were also reported in Ta’izz city, and one in Bayda.

Sniper fire was responsible for four civilian casualties in January 2024
Four civilians were injured by sniper fire in Yemen in January 2024, including three in Ta’izz governorate, and one in Dali’. In Ta’izz, two civilians were injured in separate sniper shootings in Al-Misrakh district, and another, a child, was injured by sniper fire in Al-Arish area in Dimnat Khadir district. The casualty in Dali’ was also a child, who was injured by sniper fire in Qa’atabah district. All locations were in or near active frontlines. Throughout 2023, almost half of the 47 sniper casualties reported countrywide were children (20; 43%). Similar proportions were reported in Ta’izz specifically, where of 40 civilian sniper casualties reported, 18 were children.

Two incidents impacted fuel sites in Shabwah
Ongoing tensions connected to grievances in the oil sector continued to drive unrest in Ma’rib and Shabwah in January. There were two instances in Shabwah of sections of oil pipeline being targeted in sabotage attacks, including a section of crude oil pipeline that was blown up between Sector 5 Jannah and Ayadh in Usaylan district on 1 January, and another section of pipeline that was blown up near As Said junction on 9 January, in conjunction with protests demanding a lowering of fuel prices in the governorate. There were also two instances of crude oil pipeline being detonated with IEDs in Shabwah in December, causing possible disruption to supply in, or export from, the governorate.

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