Section 2: Ground Attacks
In 2018, Mwatana documented 87 indiscriminate ground attacks that killed at least 124 victims, including 6 women and 52 children, and wounded at least 284 civilians, including 35 women and 120 children. These attacks occurred in eight Yemeni governorates: Al Hudaydah, Taizz, Sa’ada, Lahj, Hajjah, Al Jawf, Aden, and Marib. The armed group Ansar Allah (Houthis) was responsible for 49 of the attacks, while forces loyal to the Coalition and President Hadi were responsible for the 26 other attacks documented. The joint responsibility for 5 incidents lies with Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and forces loyal to President Hadi, while a “Mwatana” has not been able to identify the violator of 7 other incidents. The parties to the conflict in Yemen have carried out indiscriminate ground attacks on civilians and densely-populated residential neighborhoods. They have used unguided weapons that cannot be directed at a specific military target. Explosive weapons so inaccurate they cannot be appropriately directed should not be used in populated areas.
As military operations escalated in certain areas, combatants positioned themselves in residential neighborhoods for shelter, and conducted attacks from these positions, endangering civilians. Locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas, as well as opposing forces failing to appropriately direct ground attacks, has led to the killing and wounding of large numbers of civilians, severe damage to people’s livelihoods and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, like transportation, water, and electricity installations. The resulting harm to critical infrastructure from indiscriminate attacks has sometimes made remaining in affected areas dangerous for civilians, even after the threat of direct attack passes.
Legal Framework
International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks. Warring parties must distinguish between military objectives and civilians or civilian objects, including by not using unguided weapons that cannot be directed at a specific military objective. Attacks not specifically directed at a military target are considered indiscriminate. International humanitarian law requires commanders to choose a means of attack that can be directed at military targets and will minimize harm to civilians.
Attacks that disproportionately harm civilians are also prohibited. Parties to a conflict must do everything “feasible” to ensure that their targets are military objectives, take all feasible precautions in their choice of means to minimize incidental loss of civilian life, and refrain from attacks expected to cause disproportionate loss of civilian life or damage to civilian objects. When carried out with criminal intent, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are war crimes.
All forces must avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas and endeavor to remove civilians from the vicinity of military objectives, and otherwise protect the civilian population under their control against the dangers of military operations. One party’s failure to take feasible precautions does not negate the other party’s own obligations under the laws of war.
Case Studies
- On Saturday, 10 February 2018, at around 10 am, a projectile hit close to a vehicle transporting displaced people from Al Shuqb village[1] to Aden governorate, in Al Majliah area in Salah district of Taizz Governorate.
The attack in Taizz killed a man and a child and wounded 11 others, including four children and a woman. Witnesses said the attack occurred in an area under the control of the “Popular Resistance” forces, and that the projectile came from the direction of Al Salal Hill, under the control of the Ansar Allah (Houthis). Al Salal Hill is about two kilometers from the site of the attack, to the east of the city of Taizz.
Yahya Abdulsalam (21 years old), one of the men displaced, said: “We left our village because of the intensification of the siege and the worsening security situation. While the vehicle was taking us was crossing the area of Al Majliah, I heard a loud explosion, then I heard screams from the people who were with me on the car. I was crying, and all I smelled around me was death.”[2] Yahya Abdullah (18 years old) described what he saw: “I was still in the car and there was smoke everywhere. My left leg was injured, and I was screaming for help. The smoke cleared a little bit, and I was shocked to find a headless body lying behind me.”[3]
The wounded were taken for medical treatment. Dhi Yazan Abduljabbar (22 years old), another displaced person on the vehicle, said: “The hallways of the Al Thawrah Hospital in Taizz City were full of blood of poor, destitute people that have nothing in this world.”[4]
- On Saturday, 16 May 2018, around 11:00 am, a group of “Popular Resistance” fighters positioned in Matakhimah area in Al Bayda governorate indiscriminately shelled Al Faydh area in Al Matoun district of Al Jawf governorate.
During the attack, one of the munitions hit the home of Saleh Al Absi, located in the southern part of Al Faydh area, injuring two girls: Mani’ah Saleh Muflih Al Absi (9 years old), who was moderately injured by shrapnel in her right shoulder and chest, and Dawlah Saleh Muflih Al Absi (2 years old), who suffered from suffocation due to the smoke and gas. She still has seizures.[5]
- On Sunday, 15 July 2018, at about 5:30 pm, Ansar Allah shelled a government complex in northern Al Hazm, the capital of Al Jawf governorate.
The shelling hit a farm where displaced people from Amran governorate were living, near the governor’s office. The attack killed five children and wounded six other people, including four women and two children. A witness who resides in the area (25 years old) said: “I was in a sitting room with others, near the farm, and we all rushed to try to help the victims. The things that I saw cannot be described, and it was a terrifying scene. I tried to be strong, but I could not, and I left immediately.”[6] The father of one of the victims (46 years old) said: “We left our homes out of fear of the brutality of this group, but our fate followed us to the place that we had been displaced to.”[7]
[1] See Mwatana for Human Rights website, blog post titled “Al-Shaqb: A Village Forgotten by All Except Death”, published on 16 December 2018. For more information on incidents of indiscriminate ground shelling, see the following site: http://mwatana.org/en/a-forgotten-village/
[2] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with Yahya Abdulsalam, 22 February 2018
[3] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with Yahya Abdullah, 22 February 2018
[4] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with Dhi Yazan Abduljabbar, 23 February 2018
[5] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with the victim’s relatives, 25 October 2018
[6] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with eyewitnesses, 19 July 2019
[7] Mwatana for Human Rights’ interview with the victim’s relatives, 24 July 2018