Within weeks of the commencement of the Yemen's civil war, AQAP had exploited the chaos to capture the south-eastern port city of Mukalla, along with nearby military, transport, and economic infrastructure. A series of prison breaks by al-Qaeda—they emptied Mukalla's jail of 300 prisoners and emptied 1,200 inmates in June 2015 from the central prison in Taiz—released jailed jihadists of all ranks. Reports indicate that Yemen's prisons had, in preceding years, reportedly become "de facto jihadi academies", as veteran militants were placed in cells alongside young, regular criminals.
On 25 July airstrikes killed over 120 civilians in the town of Mokha, marking the deadliest strike yet against civilians. The airstrikes hit workers' housing for a power plant in Mokha, flattening some of the buildings, the officials said. A fire erupted in the area, charring many of the corpses. "It just shows what is the trend now of the airstrikes from the coalition," said Hassan Boucenine of the Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders. "Now, it's a house, it's a market, it's anything." He added that many of the workers had families visiting for the Eid al-Fitr holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Mokha, populated largely by fisherman, had a reputation as one of the safest places in the country embroiled in war, said Boucenine.
More InfoOn 21 May, OCHA reported airstrikes that hit two farms adjacent to a humanitarian facility in Hajjah Governorate and resulted in civilian casualties. A warehouse containing humanitarian supplies was damaged in another strike. In Sa'adah City, satellite imagery analysis identified widespread damage to infrastructure with 1,171 structures affected, damaged or destroyed. The analysis showed that as of 17 May, 35 impact craters existed within the city, mostly along the runway of Sa'ada airport. Similar imagery of Aden identified 642 affected structures, including 327 destroyed. Local partners reported that 674 schools were forced to close in Sanaʽa, affecting 551,000 students.
More InfoIn October 2016, a densely populated funeral in Yemen was struck, leaving at least 155 dead and 525 wounded, including the senior military and security officials of the Shia Houthi and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The attack was reportedly carried out by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia accepts the finding of the Joint Incidents Assessment Team, a setup of coalition states to investigate complaints against coalitions' conduct in Decisive Storm, that coalition's bombardment at a funeral ceremony in Sanaʽa, in which over 140 people were killed and more than 600 injured, was based on wrong information. Reportedly, the United States is reviewing its policy of support for the Saudi-led coalition. US Secretary of State John Kerry sought assurances from Saudi Arabia that incidents such as the airstrike on a civilian funeral in Sanaʽa will not happen again. He proposed a cease-fire and a return to talks aiming for a political resolution of the conflict. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he hoped to institute a 72-hour cease-fire as soon as possible, provided the Houthis will agree.
More InfoIran condemned intervention as "US-backed aggression". Iran's U.N. Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo said that "those who violate international law, including international humanitarian law, should be held accountable for their acts and there should be no room for impunity." Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi expressed the Iraqi government's opposition to the intervention: "This (Yemen war) can engulf the whole region in another conflict. We don't need another sectarian war in the region." The Hezbollah secretary general criticized Saudi Arabia and its allies, saying "all invaders end up being defeated".
More InfoOn 26 March, Interior Ministry officials linked to Ansar Allah documented that 23 civilians had been killed and 24 wounded. Among the dead were 5 children, ages 2 to 13, 6 women and an elderly man. The wounded included 12 children, ages 3 to 8, and 2 women due to airstrike against Sanaʽa particularly in Bani Hawat, a predominantly Houthi neighborhood near Sanaa's airports and al-Nasr, near the presidential palace. HRW documented the deaths of 11 civilians, including 2 women and 2 children, other than those provided by the Yemeni officials along with 14 more wounded, including 3 children and 1 woman. According to AI, that bombing destroyed at least 14 homes in Bani Hawat.
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