Hajjah Governorate airstrike | |
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Part of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen | |
Location | Bani Qa'is District, Hajjah Governorate, Yemen |
Date | 22 April 2018 |
Attack type | Airstrike |
Deaths | Varying estimates, from 33, [1] 43, [2] up to 55 according to some sources |
Perpetrators | Royal Saudi Air Force |
Part of a series on the Yemeni crisis |
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On 22 April 2018, an airstrike by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition hit a wedding in the Bani Qa'is District of Hajjah Governorate, Yemen. Casualty estimates vary, with the Houthi-owned Al-Masirah reporting the toll later that day to be at least 33 civilians including the bride. [3] Forty-five other people were injured. [4]
The Saudi Arabian-led coalition carried out two separate airstrikes in Yemen. The planes repeatedly flew over the area where the strike was being conducted, thus preventing medical personnel from treating the victims. [3] The victims were primarily women and children, who were congregating in one of the tents set up for the wedding. [5] A Houthi government spokesperson said that ambulances were initially unable to reach the scene due to the threat from jets, which continued to fly overhead. [3]
According to the Houthi officials, the strikes first targeted the men gathering at the wedding and then the women. [3]
The airstrike killed the bride and wounded the groom with shrapnel. Some of the injured children lost eyes and limbs. [6] According to Abdul Hakim Alkhulani, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, "Due to many casualties from the coalition-led wedding attacks, field hospitals were made near the site of the attacks giving injured civilians medical treatment in order to save lives". [7] Video footage of the airstrike shows body parts scattered around the area, as well as a young boy hugging a man's body who had died from the strike. [4] According to Bellingcat, a citizen journalist organisation, the bomb was made by the American company Raytheon. [8]
A spokesperson for the Saudi Arabian coalition which carried out the airstrike said, "We take this report very seriously and it will be fully investigated as all reports of this nature are". [4]
The foreign ministry spokesman of Iran, Bahram Qassemi, responded to the airstrike saying "The escalated bombardment of residential areas proves the desperation and inability of the invaders in achieving their goals". [9]
The Saba News Agency of Yemen described the airstrike as "the new genocidal crime of the Saudis". [9]
The Campaign Against Arms Trade, a UK-based organisation, responded to the incident with a criticism of the UK government, "Yemen is now in its fourth year of war, and the bombardment is getting worse. Thousands have been killed, and many more will be if it continues. Theresa May has said she wants the UK to play a positive role on the world stage, so why is her government still arming and supporting Saudi atrocities? It's time for her to put the lives of Yemeni people above the interests of arms companies." [10]
Abha International Airport is an airport in Abha, the capital of 'Asir Province in Saudi Arabia.
Abdul-Malik Badruldeen al-Houthi, also known as Abu Jibril, is a Yemeni politician and religious leader, who serves as the leader of the Houthi movement, a movement principally made up of Zaidi Muslims. His brothers, Yahia and Abdul-Karim are also leaders of the group, as were his late brothers Hussein, Ibrahim, and Abdulkhaliq. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is the leading figure in the Yemeni Civil War which started with the Houthi takeover in Yemen in the Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.
The following lists events that happened in 2015 in Yemen.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Efforts by the United Nations to facilitate a power sharing arrangement under a new transitional government collapsed, leading to escalating conflict between government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups, which culminated in Hadi fleeing to Saudi Arabia shortly before it began military operations in the country.
International reactions to the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen of 2015 were mixed. Most other Arab League nations and several Western governments backed the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, but other governments warned against an escalation in the violent situation in Yemen.
The Battle of Dhale was a key fight in 2015 for control of Dhale, Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and militiamen and Yemen Army units loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side.
The Abyan campaign was a 2015 campaign for control of the Abyan Governorate of Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and militiamen and Yemen Army units loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side, supported by jihadists of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The pro-Hadi forces recaptured the Abyan Governorate on 11 August 2015, after launching an offensive on pro-Houthi forces in early August.
The Shabwah campaign was a campaign for control of the Shabwah Governorate of Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and militiamen and Yemen Army units loyal to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side. The offensive was also launched during a previously started AQAP offensive.
The Lahij insurgency was a subconflict in the Yemeni Civil War waged in 2015 by tribesmen loyal to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi against the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, who controlled most of the Lahij Governorate of Yemen. In late July, pro-Hadi forces had launched an offensive to recapture Al Anad Air Base and the rest of Lahij Governorate. On 4 August, pro-Hadi forces had retaken full control of the Lahij Governorate.
The siege of Taiz is an ongoing, protracted military confrontation between opposing Yemeni forces in the city of Taiz for control of the city and surrounding area. The battle began one month after the start of the Yemeni Civil War.
The Houthi–Saudi Arabian conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi forces that has been taking place in the Arabian Peninsula, including the southern Saudi regions of Asir, Jizan, and Najran, and northern Yemeni governorates of Saada, Al Jawf, and Hajjah, since the onset of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in 2015.
A Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in Yemen began in 2015, in an attempt to influence the outcome of the Yemeni Civil War. Saudi Arabia, spearheading a coalition of nine Arab states, began carrying out airstrikes in neighbouring Yemen and imposing an aerial and naval blockade on 26 March 2015, heralding a military intervention code-named Operation Decisive Storm. More than 130 health facilities(2019) in Yemen have been destroyed by a series of airstrikes conducted by the Saudi Arabian-led coalition since March 2015. Many of these have been public health hospitals staffed or supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Critics of the assaults say the airstrikes are war crimes in violation of the protections of health care facilities afforded by the internationally recognized rules of war and have called for independent investigations.
The Battle of Port Midi refers to a battle during the Yemeni Civil War between the Saudi coalition-backed Hadi loyalists and the Houthi government. Although Hadi loyalists seized the port, the Houthi fighters along with the popular committees managed to conduct some attacks around Midi. The conflict also had spillovers in the rest of the Hajjah Governorate. On 26 January 2017, Hadi loyalists extended their control to Harad District in Hajjah Governorate.
War crimes and human rights violations, committed by all warring parties, have been widespread throughout the Yemeni civil war. This includes the two main groups involved in the ongoing conflict: forces loyal to the current Yemeni president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Houthis and other forces supporting Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Yemeni president. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United States and other nations, has also been accused of violating human rights and breaking international law, especially in regards to airstrikes that repeatedly hit civilian targets.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni civil war, which began in September 2014.
The Marib campaign, also called Marib offensive, is an ongoing military campaign in the Yemeni civil war for the control of the Marib Governorate of Yemen. Fighting between the Houthi forces and factions of the Yemeni Army loyal to Supreme Political Council on one side, and Yemeni Army units loyal to president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and militiamen on the other side, has taken place since early 2015. Marib is rich in oil and gas resources and is a key strategic governorate because it connects the Houthi-controlled Sanaa and Alimi-controlled Hadhramaut governorates.
The siege of Al Hudaydah, codenamed Operation Golden Victory, was a major Saudi-led coalition assault on the port city of Al Hudaydah in Yemen. It was spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and has been considered as the largest battle since the start of Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in 2015.
On 9 August 2018, Saudi Arabian expeditionary aircraft bombed a civilian school bus passing through a crowded market in Dahyan, Saada Governorate, Yemen, near the border with Saudi Arabia. At least 40 children were killed, all under 15 years old and most under age 10. Sources disagree on the exact number of deaths, but they estimate that the air strike killed about 51 people.
The Dhamar Airstrike took place on 1 September 2019 when Saudi led military coalition aircraft targeted a college building in Dhamar, Yemen that was used as a detention facility by the Houthis. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Yemen, the airstrike killed dozens of detainees.
The 2022 Abu Dhabi attack was a terrorist attack against three oil tanker trucks and an under construction airport extension infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates conducted by the Houthi movement using drones and missiles. Although several missiles and drones were intercepted, 3 civilians were killed and 6 were injured by a drone attack.