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Yemen war death toll hits 100,000

November 1, 2019 at 1:29 pm

Yemen Red Crescent members conduct an operation after coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia carried out air strikes in Dhamar, Yemen on 1 September 2019 [Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency]

The war in Yemen has now killed more than 100,000 since the conflict escalated in 2015 following the joint Saudi and UAE led intervention.

The grim milestone figures are according to a leading database project that has been monitoring the conflict, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), and includes over 12,000 civilians killed in “direct attacks”.

This year has been particularly violent for Yemen, with approximately 20,000 people killed, making 2019 the second-deadliest year on record after 2018 which left 30,800 dead.

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In terms of civilian fatalities this year, ACLED found that up to 1,100 lives have been lost, with the most targeted provinces resulting in civilian deaths being Dhale, Hudaydah, Hajjah and Taiz.

ACLED has previously reported that the anti-Houthi coalition has been “the most responsible for civilian deaths”. The current figures suggest that coalition has been responsible for more than 8,000 civilian deaths since military intervention began in March 2015, with the aim of pushing back Houthi control in the northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa since 2014.

Air strikes have seen a decline since 2015, but there has been an increase in engagements on the ground. Although the statistics include those killed in air strikes, shelling and ground battles, the numbers do not reflect people who have died as a result of starvation and illness brought on by the on-going humanitarian crisis, described as the worst in the world by the UN which would make the death toll higher.