On Thursday, May 16th2019, at least six civilians were killed and up to 60 injured by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
Reports have indicated that 5 children are among the dead.
Many of the residents of Sanaa’s al-Raqas neighbourhood were sleeping when the strikes took place on Thursday morning. Witnesses reported seeing at least one body pulled from the rubble of several houses in the city’s residential area.
Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) records casualties (i.e. people killed and injured) from explosive violence around the world as reported in English-language news sources.
AOAV recorded 1,807 civilian deaths and injuries in Yemen in 2018 across, the third highest of any country in the world after Syria and Afghanistan. AOAV data found that 78% of the total casualties in Yemen in 2018 were civilians; marking an 8% rise in civilian casualties from the previous year.
The Saudi-led coalition was responsible for 85% of civilian casualties in Yemen in 2018, rising 9% from 1,414 in 2017 to 1,535 last year. This makes the Saudi-led forces in Yemen the coalition responsible for the largest number of civilian injuries and deaths in the world in 2018.
AOAV continues to denounce the use of explosive violence against civilians and urges states and groups to end the use of weapons capable of severe destruction in populated areas.
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