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April deadliest month in Yemen

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According to the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), April was the “deadliest” month so far this year in Yemen, with nearly 480 civilian victims.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told journalists today (11 May) in Geneva that “in Yemen the month of April was the deadliest month for civilians so far this year, with a sharp increase in casualties. At least 236 civilians were killed and 238 injured in Yemen in only April – a total of 474 civilian casualties, this is well over double the 180 civilian casualties documented in March this year.”
The bloodshed has continued in May as government forces backed by a Saudi-led international coalition battle a Houthi-led opposition, in a conflict that escalated in 2015.
According to the OHCHR, there have been 63 civilian casualties so far this month, including six deaths.
Shamdasani said that recent attacks against targets in residential areas “raise serious doubts” about respect for internationally recognized rules of war.
She said, “we are deeply concerned about the sharp increase in civilian casualties and call, again, on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law.”
On Monday, airstrikes targeted the Presidential Office in Sana’a, a Houthi stronghold.
The OHCHR spokesperson said that information gathered by the UN human rights office in Yemen indicated that first raid “directly hit” the Presidential Office, which is located in a densely populated area.
Shamdasani added that “eyewitnesses told us that the same building was hit again about seven minutes after the first strike, causing additional casualties among the first responders to the first strike.”
Elsewhere, Shamdasani added that there had also been casualties resulting from “apparent indiscriminate shelling” by Houthis.
These included recent incidents on 1 and 2 May, during which five civilians were injured and one was killed, she told journalists.
The conflict in Yemen has caused immense suffering throughout the country, which was heavily reliant on external imports of food, fuel and medicines before the fighting erupted.
According to OCHA, a total of 22.2 million people in Yemen need humanitarian or protection assistance urgently.
This includes more than 8.4 million people who are severely food insecure and at risk of starvation, and 16.4 million who lack access to adequate healthcare.
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