UN: Yemen Civilian Deaths Spiked in December

'Ceasefire' Didn't Stop Toll From Rising

A new report out of the United Nations showed that once again, the civilian death toll in the Saudi war in Yemen continues to escalate, with more than double the number of civilians killed in December than in November, and no signs of it slowing down.

This spike in deaths came in spite of December including a solid week of ceasefire, though since the Saudi airstrikes never really stopped during the ceasefire, it’s unsurprising that the death toll was not slowed by its occurrence.

January isn’t off to a promising start either, as the abandonment of the ceasefire, such as it is, saw the Saudis increasing the number of airstrikes even further, smashing the nation’s chamber of commerce as well as a key treatment center for the blind in Sanaa.

Previous UN reports have faulted Saudi Arabia for killing a “disproportionate” number of civilians in the war, which they launched in March with an eye on reinstalling the former president, who resigned a year ago. They’ve taken the southern port of Aden and some of the surrounding area, but by and large, the country remains in the control of the Houthis.

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.