More than 3,000 child deaths In Yemen, OCHA Report

“Hostilities have directly caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties; 3,153 child deaths and 5,660 children were verified in the first five years of the conflict, and 1,500 civilian casualties were reported in the first nine months of 2020.”

The chief UN humanitarian official in Yemen, Altaf Musani, the acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, said in a statement on Tuesday that there had been artillery shelling of residential areas in the city of Taizz, a violation of international law. Preliminary reports indicated that two children had been killed, with a further three children and four women injured.

“These senseless attacks, with so many children and women casualties, are horrific and inexcusable,” Mr. Musani said. “Today, more families are grieving for children who died needlessly.”

UNICEF said 11 children, including a one-month old baby, had been killed in the past three days, in separate attacks in Taizz and Al Hudaydah govenorate.

“Verification is still ongoing, and the actual number of casualties may be higher”, Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative to Yemen, said in a statement.

“The killing of children is appalling. Children should be protected at all times.”

Yemen’s complex civil war began in earnest in 2015, foisting disease, hunger and economic collapse on an already impoverished population. In 2020 the violence escalated and the hardship deepened with torrential rains, a fuel crisis, COVID-19 and desert locust infestations that are expected to cause damage and loss worth $222 million to staple crops, animals and livestock.