CIMP Monthly Report

June saw lowest civilian casualty count on CIMP records
Armed violence was directly responsible for 91 civilian casualties across Yemen in June 2023, halving from the 179 civilian casualties reported in May, and marking the lowest monthly civilian casualty count since CIMP commenced monitoring at the start of 2018. 36 fatalities were among the casualties; the second lowest on CIMP records. Over a third (41) of the casualties were the result of small arms fire shootings, followed by 15 shelling casualties and 15 ERW casualties. Sa’dah saw the highest civilian casualty numbers in the country for the seventh consecutive month.

Despite declining numbers, Sa’dah continues to see more civilian casualties than any other part of the country
For the third consecutive month, the number of civilian casualties reported in Sa’dah decreased, down to 20, the lowest the governorate has seen since November 2022. However, casualty numbers have also decreased in other parts of the country, and Sa’dah continues proportionately to see the highest numbers in the country, accounting for 22% of countrywide casualties in June. 15 of the casualties reported in Sa’dah were the result of cross-border shellfire hitting the western border districts. All but one of the shelling casualties were reported in Shada’a district, which continues to see frequent reports of artillery fire. There were also five casualties reported as a result of shootings on the border, all in Monabbih district, where a significant proportion of the population have a migration profile. At least four of the casualties in Monabbih district were reportedly migrants. The district is known to host a number of informal border crossings into Saudi Arabia, and border patrol shootings are not uncommon, although numbers have steadily decreased since peaking at the start of the year.

Proportion of SAF casualties rising on account of continued local grievances
Small arms fire (SAF) shootings were responsible for 41 civilian casualties over the past month. Although this marked a decrease from 57 civilian SAF casualties reported in May, it was higher than any other type of armed violence. The proportion of civilian casualties that SAF has been accountable for on a monthly basis has been increasing steadily this year. 9% of countrywide casualties were attributable to SAF incidents in January 2023, compared to 45% in June 2023. Throughout 2022, SAF was responsible for 15% of casualties, but so far in 2023, this proportion is 22%. The shifting picture is driven largely by an overall decrease in hostilities in the frontline areas, including a complete cease in airstrikes, in tandem with ongoing negotiations, while economic grievances and local rivalries continue to drive relatively consistent numbers of SAF casualties. In the deadliest SAF incident in June, on 4 June, three civilians from the same family were shot dead and another was injured in a vengeance shooting near a judiciary complex in Faj Attan in Bani Matar, Sana’a. Two vengeance shootings were also reported in Rada city in Bayda. There were also three civilian casualties as a result of marketplace shootings in Bayda and Ta’izz, while a checkpoint shooting in Marib district resulted in two fatalities and two injuries, after a local armed group disputed the establishment of a new checkpoint in Al-Aqqar area.

Local grievances are also driving continued reports of grenade attacks impacting civilians
With similar drivers to the shooting incidents mentioned above, including local grievances linked to disputes over economic and territorial factors, grenade incidents also continue to drive a significant proportion of the civilian casualties being reported across the country. Hand grenades were accountable for 10 civilian casualties in June. On 11 June, two sisters below 10 years of age were killed, while their mother and another sister were injured when a hand grenade was thrown into the premises of a house in Ash Shubah in As Said. Another grenade was detonated in Al-Muttahidin marketplace in Al-Qahirah district in Ta’izz city on 25 June, killing one civilian and injuring another five. Grenades were also responsible for the highest number of child casualties over the past month, at three, matched by three child ERW casualties.

ERW continues to drive among highest civilian casualty numbers in country, particularly in Hudaydah
Explosive remnants of ordnance (ERW), including landmines and UXO, were responsible for 15 civilian casualties in June 2023, the lowest monthly ERW casualty count since November 2021, and down by 59% from May. Nonetheless, ERW was responsible for the second highest civilian casualty numbers in the country, after SAF. Hudaydah saw the highest ERW casualty numbers, at nine, unchanged from the previous two months. In the deadliest incident, on 7 June, three civilians were killed, including a 50-year-old woman and her two grandchildren, aged 10 and 12 years, were killed when a UXO exploded in Al-Masna area in Al-Hawak, in the southern outskirts of Hudaydah city. Another two ERW casualties were reported in the eastern outskirts of Hudaydah city, three in At Tuhayat district and one in Bayt Al-Faqih. These former frontline districts, along with Ad Durayhimi and Hays, continue to see the most frequent reports of ERW incidents in the country. Countrywide, the district to see the highest ERW casualty numbers during the first half of the year was At Tuhayat, at 29, followed by 26 in Hudaydah city, and 20 in Khabb wa ash Sha’af district in Al-Jawf, another ERW flashpoint.

Increase in houses being impacted by shellfire as frontlines see uptick
The past month saw 28 reports of artillery fire impacting civilian homes, including seven incidents in Ta’izz, five in Sa’dah and four in Hudaydah, cumulatively impacting as many as 101 civilian homes; more than double the 48 civilian homes estimated to have been impacted by shelling incidents in May. The only resultant civilian casualties were reported in Sa’dah, as discussed above, but as many as 35 households were impacted as hostilities ticked up in Ta’izz, not only heightening the risk of direct harm to civilian inhabitants, but also threatening displacement. In governorates bordering Ta’izz, Hudaydah saw an increase in reports of homes being impacted, with as many as 20 houses hit by artillery fire in June, compared to five in May, while in Al-Dhale, where a limited escalation was seen in recent weeks, 15 houses were reportedly impacted by artillery fire, up from just one in May.

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