Yemen’s Ceasefire Brings Month-Long Pause of Airstrikes

Mid-way through a two-month ceasefire in Yemen, there has been a lot of talk about what’s gone wrong, or what might’ve gone better. The Yemen Data Project, however, is showing what’s gone very right, marveling at the lack of an air war in the month of April.

Seven years of war has seen 25,054 air raids in Yemen. This resulted in at least 19,226 civilian casualties. The Saudi airstrikes have been one of the highest sources of civilian casualties throughout the war.

The two-month ceasefire began with Ramadan this year, which mirrored the month of April. April saw not a single air raid, and not a single civilian casualty as a result. That’s a huge success.

Both the Houthis and the Saudis have claimed scores of ceasefire violations in that span, but they seem to be restricted to ground clashes with smaller factions. No big battles happened, and no airstrikes, which is an amazing success for such a long ceasefire in such a long war.

Even if there are other concerns surrounding the current situation in Yemen, and how the two sides will be able to position themselves over the next month to get a peace process going, the fact that the ceasefire has been such a runaway success in and of itself should raise hope that there is at the very least a good opportunity for that to happen.