CIMP Monthly Report - December 2024

December saw the second highest monthly civilian casualty count of 2024
During December 2024, 153 civilian casualties were reported as a result of armed violence in Yemen, more than double the 64 civilian casualties reported in November. Among the casualties were 49 fatalities, over three times the 15 civilian fatalities reported in November. There was also a significant increase in the number of children reported among the casualties, increasing fourfold from five in November to 21 in December. Airstrikes were responsible for the highest civilian casualty numbers, at 58, driving high civilian casualty counts in Hudaydah (43) and Sana’a City (38). Amid ongoing frontline violence, another 24 civilian casualties were reported in Ta’izz, while border violence in Sa’dah was responsible for another 16 civilian casualties.

Over a third of the civilian casualties reported in December 2024 were attributed to airstrikes
Airstrikes were responsible for more than a third of the civilian casualties reported in Yemen as a result of armed violence in December 2024, accounting for a reported 58 civilian casualties, the third highest monthly airstrike casualty count the country saw throughout the year. The majority of these casualties were reported on one day, 26 December, when airstrikes were reported to have hit Sana'a Airport and Hizyaz Power Stations in Sana’a and Al-Hudaydah seaport, Al-Katib Power Station and Ras Issa seaport in Al-Hudaydah. The air traffic control tower at Sana’a airport was severely damaged in the bombings, while the runway and arrival lounge were also reportedly impacted. Three civilians were reportedly killed in the strikes on Sana’a, and another 30 were reported injured. Meanwhile in Hudaydah, reports suggested the strikes killed another three civilians, and injured 10. The week before also saw reports of civilian airstrike casualties in Hudaydah, where air raids were reported to have hit As Salif, Ras Isa and Hudaydah ports on 19 December, allegedly killing nine civilians and injuring another three. The same day saw reports of airstrikes hitting power stations in Sanhan and Bani Al-Harith districts in Sana’a.

Fourfold increase in child casualties from November to December 2024
21 children were reportedly killed or injured by armed violence in Yemen in December 2024. This marked a fourfold increase from the month before, when five child casualties were reported. Almost half of the casualties (9) were the result of explosive remnants of warfare (ERW). Landmines and UXO killed two children and injured another seven in December. All but two (78%) of the nine child ERW casualties were reported in Hudaydah. In the ERW incident to see the highest child casualty count, on 23 December, three boys, aged between 3 and 5 years, were injured when a landmine exploded in Ghulayfiqah in Ad Durayhimi district. Another third of the child casualties reported in December were the result of a hand grenade incident in Dhamar; on 7 December, seven children sustained injuries when a hand grenade detonated by accident in a school in the Hadaqah area of Dawran Aness, also damaging the classroom. Arms and armed violence in or near school premises puts children directly at risk of harm, threatening the educational environment as a safe space for children.

December saw an increase in civilian ERW casualties, primarily along the west coast
Explosive remnants of warfare (ERW), including landmines and UXO, were responsible for a reported 22 civilian casualties in Yemen in December 2024, more than the three prior months combined (19), and over double the nine ERW casualties reported in November. One in three (14) of the civilian ERW casualties reported in December were in Hudaydah, where ERW remains one of the most consistent types of armed violence threatening civilian safety. Seven casualties were reported in Ad Durayhimi district, five on the outskirts of Hudaydah city, and two in Al-Khawkhah district, reflective of some of the main ERW flashpoints in the governorate. Others include Bayt Al-Faqih and At Tuhayat districts. Further ERW casualties were reported to the north and south along the west coast, including three injuries in western Ta’izz, and two in Hajjah. Almost half of the incidents impacted civilians while they were travelling on vehicles, including three instances of trucks going over landmines in Bayda, Hudaydah and Ta’izz, two instances of cars triggering explosive devices in Jawf, one incident resulting from a motorbike going over a landmine in Hudaydah, and a tractor also hit a device on a farm in western Ta’izz.

Ta’izz saw the weight of the civilian impact from frontline hostilities in December
Frontline activity, namely in the form of artillery fire and drone activity, such as drones being used to drop shells, was responsible for 20 civilian casualties in December 2024, all but one of whom were reported in Ta’izz. The frontlines in Ta’izz remain among the most active in the country, seeing frequent reports of shellfire and drone activity, and intermittent clashes and sniper fire. There were six instances of civilian houses being hit by shellfire and drones in and around Ta’izz city in December, impacting neighbourhoods in Salh, Al-Qahirah, At Taiziyah and Al-Mudhaffar districts, injuring a boy in the latter. However, Mudhaffar district, one of the main fronts in the west of the governorate, saw the highest civilian casualty count. On 1 December, six civilians were reportedly killed and eight others injured when a drone shell hit a local market in Mamal Al-Bumiyah, in Al-Barasha area of Maqbanah. This was the highest civilian fatality count to have been reported from a single drone incident throughout 2024. Later in the month, on 23 December, artillery fire hit a house in the same area, killing one child and injuring another three children, all from the same family.

Rise in civilian casualties as a result of shooting incidents
25 civilian casualties were reported as a result of small arms fire (SAF) shootings in December 2024, including 17 fatalities and eight injuries. SAF accounted for 35% of the 49 civilian fatalities reported throughout the month, almost double the nine SAF casualties reported in November. Shootings were distributed across eight different governorates, predominantly isolated incidents, tribal violence and as a result of disputes escalating. Ma’rib saw the highest number of civilian SAF casualties, at six, resulting from four separate shooting incidents. The highest casualty count to be reported in a single incident, however, was in Sana’a city, where a sit-in protest was reportedly dispersed using live fire, allegedly killing three civilians with a migration profile, and injuring others. Another 14 civilians were killed and injured in light weapons fire shootings in north-western Sa’dah, where border violence continues to threaten the civilian population in the border areas, particularly those with a migration profile. Six border shootings were reported in Monabbih district, where Al Umm Shaykh area was a particular flashpoint, and another four in Baqim district, killing two civilians and injuring another 12, at least half of whom were reportedly migrants. A civilian was also injured by shellfire in Ar Raqw, another flashpoint on the border in Monabbih district.

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