Nearly 100 Killed, Mostly Civilians, as Houthis Shell Aden

Fighting Continues Over Strategic Northern Neighborhood

As fighting continues between Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthis and the pro-Saudi faction loyal to former President Hadi, civilians in the port city of Yemen remain caught in the middle, paying a deadly price in the drawn out war.

Sunday, health officials in Aden reported 57 civilians killed and 215 others wounded in heavy Houthi shelling against the Dar Saad neighborhood, a strategically important residential neighborhood in northern Aden. The Houthis are aiming to reclaim the city after losing much of it last week. By Monday, the figure was revised to nearly 100 killed and 200 wounded, with around 80% of the slain believed to be civilians.

Hadi forces are said to be using Dar Saad as a staging ground for their offensive against surrounding Houthi areas, and the shelling was aimed at halting their advance, though the shelling was also said to be relatively random, and took a big civilian toll.

This has been the case in fighting and strikes all across Yemen since the Saudi war began in March, and the civilian death toll, which crossed 1,500 last week, is rapidly approaching the 2,000 mark over that three month period.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.