Over the past week, AOAV has recorded nine incidents of explosive violence in Yemen, as reported in English-language news sources, and 57 civilian casualties. 55% (5) of those incidents have involved mines, and mines caused 21% of civilian casualties of explosive violence in Yemen this past week. 7% (4) of civilian casualties of explosive violence in Yemen this week were caused by a UXO explosion.
In 2022, AOAV has recorded 62 civilian casualties of mines and UXOs in Yemen – 92% of civilian casualties of mines and UXOs recorded by AOAV in Yemen in 2022 consequently occurred in the last week. At least eight of the civilian casualties of mines and UXOs in Yemen recorded in 2022 have been reported as children.
In contrast, AOAV has recorded 19 armed actor casualties of mines and UXOs in Yemen in 2022.
Since 2010, AOAV has recorded 101 incidents of UXO and mine explosions in Yemen, as reported in English-language news outlets. These incidents reportedly caused 417 civilian casualties and 47 armed actor casualties. Of the civilian casualties, at least 15 have been reported as women, and 82 as children.
Globally, AOAV has recorded 4, 380 incidents of mine and UXO explosions since 2010, which have reportedly caused 16, 147 civilian casualties and 4, 369 armed actor casualties. At least 787 of the civilian casualties have been women, and 2, 954 have been reported as children.
60% (2645) of incidents of mine and UXO explosions recorded by AOAV since 2010 have occurred in populated areas, and 82% (13, 302) of civilian casualties of mine and UXO explosions have occurred in populated areas.
The majority of incidents of UXO and mine explosions are attributed to unknown actors. It’s difficult to ascertain responsibility for explosive weapons which sometimes lie inactive for months or even years before exploding, and are indiscriminate by nature. This means holding armed actors accountable for the civilian harm caused by mines and UXOs deployed or left in populated areas is difficult, but it should be a priority if we are seeking to limit civilian harm from explosive weapons in populated areas.
AOAV’s casualty figures represent the lowest of estimations in terms of the number of people killed and injured by explosive weapon use. In an effort to quantify the explicit harm caused by specific explosive weapons, AOAV solely records incident-specific casualty figures, as reported in English-language media.
AOAV condemns the use of violence against civilians and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. All actors should stop using explosive weapons with wide-area effects where there is likely to be a high concentration of civilians.
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