CIMP Monthly Report

Casualty numbers more than halve compared to April following bilateral truce
During May, 281 civilians were the victims of armed violence across Yemen (98 killed, 183 injured). This marks a drop of more than 50% compared to the month prior, when 648 civilians were killed and wounded. The beginning of the month marked the latest escalation in airstrikes, which started on 15 March and lasted until 6 May, after which a bilateral truce agreement brought the intensive hostilities to an end. As a result, the bulk of the casualties (106) in May, around 62%, were recorded in those first six days of the month, mainly caused by heavy bombing on Al Hudaydah and Sanaa. The strikes hit critical infrastructure sites at Al Hudaydah seaport, the Ras Isa seaport, Sanaa airport, and power stations in Sanaa, as well as residential neighbourhoods in Sanaa city. In addition, further air raids struck two concrete factories on 5 and 6 May – the Amran Cement Factory and the Bajil Cement Factory in Al Hudaydah – causing 54 casualties (38 killed, 16 injured).

Airstrikes alone during the first week of the month caused a cumulative 100 casualties (7 killed, 93 injured). Despite the intensity of the violence, the long-term impact on the targeted infrastructure has been limited; power was restored in Sanaa within days, fuel and commodities remained available at local markets, and cement prices held within the usual limits. The stability in the provision of services in the north was primarily due to several factors: Sanaa city relies on multiple privately operated power stations; fuel reserves had pre-emptively been moved from the storage tanks in Al Hudaydah to other sites across the north earlier this year; food continued to be delivered to the Red Sea ports and transferred overland from Aden, and the deficit in cement production was covered by other factories in the southern areas of the country, in addition to available stored stocks of imported cement.

Weapons cache explosions cause around a fifth of all casualties
Early on 22 May, an explosion was reported in the Saraf area on the outskirts of Sana’a city in Bani Hushaysh district, where a weapons storage facility exploded in a crowded urban area. According to conservative estimates, the blast caused 52 civilian casualties (38 killed, 14 injured), including the deaths of 16 children. Fifteen nearby houses were assessed to have been destroyed in the blast, and 8 shops were also damaged, in addition to a concrete block factory. Another weapons cache exploded on 29 May in Mafraq Mawiyah in At Taiziyah district to the east of Taizz city, causing a total of 7 civilian casualties, including a child and 2 women. The two incidents resulted in a total of 59 casualties, accounting for approximately 20% of all casualties in May.

Arms depot explosions are highly unpredictable, and with the spread of commercial weapons stores inside major markets and heavily populated urban areas, casualty numbers from such incidents are often high. The last time CIMP recorded a weapons cache explosion was in Taizz city in September 2024, while the highest casualty numbers in such a blast were in Lawdar of Abyan in July 2022, when a total of 43 civilians were killed and injured. The Sanaa city explosion on 22 May surpasses that number, making it the deadliest incident in the city and its outskirts since airstrikes overnight on 19 and 20 April that left 63 civilians dead and wounded.

Airstrikes on Sanaa airport caused a complete halt to operations
On 28 May, airstrikes on Sanaa airport hit the last operational Yemen Airways aircraft dedicated to operating through the northern city, in addition to another plane operated by a private company. The strikes followed previous raids on 6 May in which 6 aircraft were destroyed, including 4 operated by the national airline Yemen Airways and 2 more by a local company. The airstrikes brought operations at Sanaa airport to a complete halt, with Yemen Airways saying that all flights would be suspended. The bombings, though, caused no casualties as passengers had already disembarked from the Yemen Airways plane just before the strikes.

Despite the sustained tempo of airstrikes on the airport since late December 2024, the facility had not completely halted operations until this month’s bombings. The 28 May incident marked the first time Sanaa Airport had been closed since April 2022, when a UN-mediated truce facilitated its re-opening after years of closure.
Based on previous airstrikes targeting the airport, it is likely that the infrastructure at Sanaa airport will be rapidly restored; however, it remains to be seen how long Yemen Airways can replace its planes. However, this may require regional escalation to first drawdown, after which operations out of Sanaa airport could resume quickly. In the meantime, the halt to operations has led to the cancellation of flights to Saudi Arabia for the current Hajj season, leaving hundreds of pilgrims unable to travel to Jeddah from Sanaa or to transfer their flights to Aden, primarily due to the limited fleet that Yemen Airways now has available.

Children and women casualties drop by around 30% compared to the past month
The reporting period witnessed a drop in children and women casualties commensurate with the drop in overall casualty numbers compared to April, with a 29% decrease. However, even with the drop-off, the total of 63 children and women killed or injured (45 children, 18 women) still marks the highest casualty count among children and women since August 2020, excluding the 15 March – 6 May airstrike escalation period. Out of the 63 child and women casualties, 25 were caused by weapons cache explosions in Sanaa and Taizz cities on 22 and 29 May, of whom 23 died, accounting for almost two-thirds (58%) of all children and women killed this month. The deadliness of the incidents highlights the high risk of storing explosives in urban areas and the dangers of establishing commercial arms shops in densely populated neighbourhoods. The remaining casualties among children and women, excluding the Sanaa and Taizz incidents, were caused by shelling, shootings, explosive devices, and ERW.

Around one-third of all casualties were caused by shooting incidents
Shootings accounted for 33 incidents out of the total 100 incidents reported in May, causing a total of 56 casualties (30 killed, 26 injured). The highest casualty toll as a result of shootings was in Sadah, where 19 civilians were impacted by fire from small and light weapons. All but one of the casualties in Sadah were related to border violence, with 8 migrants being among those affected. Taizz followed Sadah in casualty numbers at 14, almost all related to disputes and personal grievances rather than the broader conflict in the governorate. Notably, 8 of the casualties in Taizz came in a single incident in Taizz city when a commercial company came under fire following financial disputes among the parties involved.

Meanwhile, violence along active frontlines caused by shelling remained at a relatively low level, with the most noteworthy escalation being in Lahij, where Al Qabbaytah and Al Musaymir to the north of the governorate and Al Had to the northeast saw a spike in violence. The escalation in the governorate has so far caused minimal civilian deaths and injuries. However, on 27 May, Al Musaymir on the border with Taizz saw 7 civilian casualties (1 killed, 6 injured), all children and women, the highest single casualty incident in the governorate since the start of the year. But, overall, low levels of violence are expected to persist over the coming period, both owing to the forthcoming Eid season and broader regional developments.

ERW incidents spike to the highest level since December 2024
Nine different governorates witnessed incidents involving explosive devices during May, including landmines, unexploded ordnance, and IEDs. Twenty-two civilians (11 killed, 11 injured) were impacted, marking the highest number recorded so far this year and the most since December 2024, when 23 civilians were killed or wounded. Usually, ERW incidents are focused on current or previous frontline areas, most notably in Al Hudaydah and Al Jawf, and to a lesser extent in Marib, Taizz and Hajjah. However, May marked the first time since April 2024 that ERW incidents have been widespread enough to cover nine governorates. This is attributable mainly to incidents involving explosives and IEDs away from active fronts. Both Al Jawf and Amran saw such controlled remote detonations, where houses were demolished using remotely activated munitions during security campaigns. The incident in Al Jawf caused 4 civilian casualties: a mother and her 3 children. Given the tribal makeup of Al Jawf and Amran, the likelihood of a brief escalation against local authorities is possible, but long-term grievances are unlikely to cause a significant conflict in the area or re-open the largely quiet frontlines in Al Jawf.

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