Report: Yemen Civilian Deaths Skyrocketing Since June

August is deadliest month so far this year

Escalations of the Saudi-led war in Yemen, including the attack on the Yemeni port city of al-Hodeidah, has seen the already huge civilian death toll of the war skyrocket, up 164% just since June.

According to the International Rescue Committee, the month of August was by far the worst of the year, with a single nine-day period leaving nearly 500 civilians killed. They noted that on- third of Saudi airstrikes have hit non-military targets.

It is unsurprising that August would be such a particularly deadly month, with a Saudi airstrike early in the month hitting a school bus full of children, killing 51 of them. Saudi officials long maintained that the attack was “legitimate,” but there was never any question the victims were civilians.

This undercuts US and Saudi claims that they are making improvements in targeting to reduce civilian death tolls, and if anything the US seems to have only claimed that to bypass Congressional demands to halt aid.

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.