At least 60 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on a detention centre in the Houthi stronghold city of Saada. The number of those killed and injured is likely to rise, as bodies are still being recovered from the rubble of the strike site (21 Jan 2022).
The number of wounded could be as high as 200 people, according to Doctors Without Borders, as aid workers report that hospitals are overwhelmed with casualties.
This strike is the third escalation of conflict in a matter of days. Earlier on Friday 21 Jan, a Saudi airstrike on a telecommunications facility in the port city of Hodeida, killing three children and causing a nation-wide internet blackout.
On 18 Jan, Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa killed at least 20 people overnight.
These strikes occurred in the days imediately following a Houthi drone attack, which killed three people and injured six in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Houthi rebels and Yemeni forces, alongside the Saudi-led coalition.
In 2021, Yemen was among the top five worst-affected countries in terms of civilian casualties of explosive weapons. AOAV recorded 867 civilian casualties from explosive violence in Yemen last year, 279 of whom were killed and 588 injured. Civilians accounted for 36% of the total 2,439 casualties. There were 133 incidents of explosive violence recorded in Yemen in 2021.
44% (383) of civilian deaths and injuries last year were attributed to the use of explosive weapons by Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-led coalition.
The highest numbers of recorded civilian casualties in Yemen took place in Saada (319) and Marib (223), both Houthi strongholds. Other provinces with high levels of civilian casualties were Taiz (90), Al-Hudaydah (88), and Aden (47).
Find more information on explosive violence in Yemen HERE
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