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Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC) has condemned the ongoing indiscriminate shelling by the Houthi militia on residential neighborhoods,
coupled with the continued laying of landmines, booby-trapped devices, and the abandonment of unexploded ordnance in civilian areas. These practices are causing a steady toll of civilian deaths, especially among children, whether through direct shelling or the detonation of remnants of war — in clear and flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the rules protecting civilians.
The organization noted that recent days have witnessed horrifying incidents in Taiz Governorate in which several children were killed or seriously injured due to shelling and explosions from Houthi munitions. These repeated and deliberate attacks reflect a systematic pattern of grave violations against civilians.
WJWC emphasized that such acts constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions and international criminal law, given their high civilian death toll — particularly among children, who remain the most vulnerable victims. The repetition and systematic nature of these attacks reinforce their deliberate character and highlight the Houthi militia’s consistent disregard for civilian life.
The organization further warned that these atrocities are part of a broader pattern enabled by a dangerous culture of impunity, allowing the militia to persist in committing violations without accountability. WJWC called on the international community to take urgent and concrete action to stop these crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, and protect civilians and their fundamental human dignity.
Based on credible field information gathered by WJWC’s local monitors and eyewitness testimony, the organization documented that six children were killed and one severely injured in a single week in Taiz as a result of hostile acts committed by the Houthi militia.
· On Friday evening, 18 July 2025, seven-year-old Nawazeh Masad was killed and her four-year-old brother, Mohammed, was seriously wounded when Houthi forces fired mortar shells indiscriminately at the village of Al-Hanaya, located in the Al-Kadha area between Mawza and Al-Ma’afer districts in western Taiz. The siblings were playing outside their home when the shelling struck. Nawazeh died instantly; Mohammed was taken in critical condition to a hospital in the city of Mocha.
· A week earlier, on Friday, 11 July 2025, five children were killed in a separate, equally horrific incident in the Jabal Al-Habeel area below Al-Orsoom, in Al-Ta’iziyah District in northern Taiz — a region under Houthi control. The children were playing with a metallic object, unaware it was an unexploded munition left by the militia. The device exploded instantly, killing all five on the spot. The tragedy underscores the ongoing threat posed by abandoned explosives in populated civilian areas, where no precautions or clearance efforts have been undertaken.
WJWC has identified the victims of the second incident as follows:
· Mubarak Yasser Ali Ahmed Al-Shara’bi (14 years old)
· Osama Abu Bakr Ahmed Ali (12 years old)
· Basheer Akram Mohammed Al-Fadli (13 years old)
· Anas Jawad Mohammed Saleh (14 years old)
· Ahmed Ali Moqbil Abdullah Al-Utmi (12 years old)
These back-to-back tragedies highlight the escalating danger posed by the continued presence of Houthi landmines and unexploded ordnance across Taiz and reflect a dual pattern of systematic violations — indiscriminate shelling and failure to clear lethal remnants of war — that exacerbate civilian suffering, particularly among children.
In this context, WJWC also referred to a recent statement by Save the Children, confirming that the deaths of the five children in Taiz brought the total number of child victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Yemen during the first half of 2025 to at least 40 children. The organization reported that these explosive remnants have claimed 107 civilian casualties — dead and wounded — since the beginning of the year.
Women Journalists Without Chains recalled numerous similar tragic incidents previously documented in various regions, where children and other civilians were killed either by repeated shelling targeting residential areas or by the explosion of unexploded munitions, booby traps, and landmines planted by Houthi forces in populated zones. These actions illustrate a systematic pattern of reckless and deliberate violence — with children often bearing the heaviest burden.
WJWC stressed that the indiscriminate shelling of residential neighborhoods and the planting of mines and abandonment of lethal remnants in populated civilian areas, especially when they lead to the deaths and injuries of children, constitute war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and are severe violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and UN Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) on children and armed conflict.
These acts reflect a deliberate and systematic pattern of grave violations against children in armed conflict and demand international criminal accountability and the prosecution of perpetrators. WJWC reiterated the urgent need for measures to protect civilians — particularly children — from such prohibited acts under international humanitarian law.
The organization expressed its unequivocal condemnation of these heinous crimes, which add to the long record of violations perpetrated by the Houthi militia against civilians. The continued loss of life due to indiscriminate shelling, landmines, IEDs, and explosive remnants of war highlights the militia’s inhumane and aggressive practices and its blatant disregard for innocent life.
WJWC conveyed its deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and the affected communities, emphasizing that these incidents are not isolated humanitarian tragedies, but clear evidence of the international community’s failure to protect civilians — especially children — in Yemen.
The organization called for an independent, transparent international investigation and for all responsible parties to be held accountable before international justice. It emphasized that these violations fall within the scope of war crimes and grave crimes against children, serving as an urgent alarm bell for the international community over the worsening plight of Yemeni children in the context of ongoing impunity.
Finally, Women Journalists Without Chains called on the United Nations, relevant international mechanisms, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take firm and unequivocal positions on these violations. The ongoing silence of the international community, the organization warned, only serves to entrench a culture of impunity and endangers the lives of civilians — particularly children.
