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Incident on 8 August 2015 [+] Print this page

Location: home of Sheikh Muhammad al-Haddi, Ar Radmah District, Ibb Governorate [+]

Country: Yemen [+]

Violation types: Unlawful Airstrike [+]

Location


This incident took place in home of Sheikh Muhammad al-Haddi, Ar Radmah District, Ibb Governorate, Yemen [+]

Description


According to Human Rights Watch: "Cases of Unlawful Airstrikes [...] On August 8, starting at 8:30 p.m., coalition aircraft dropped five bombs in the span of several minutes, destroying eight homes in the village of Shara`a, located in southern Ibb governorate’s Radhma district. The village has a population of about 800 people. The strikes killed eight civilians, including three women and three children, and left at least two civilians wounded. The al-Salam military base, which was occupied by Houthi forces, is located two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the village.100 Although the base was apparently not struck, 10 minutes before bombs hit Shara`a, two strikes hit the Al-Ahram event hall, located next to the base. Human Rights Watch was not able to visit the village, but spoke to seven residents by telephone. At 8:30 p.m. the first bomb hit the home of Mane`a al-Haddi, killing his mother, wife, sister and his sister’s two children, ages 6 and 7. The blast wounded him as well. He told Human Rights Watch: The first strike that hit the village targeted my house. I ran out to see what had happened, despite being injured. But two minutes later, my cousin’s house was hit by a second bomb. Then minutes later, two more fell, one on my house again, and a fourth on my cousin’s house again. Another resident described the scene after the first strike: I never expected to see something similar, people running around and crying. It was horrific. We were trying to pull some of the people out the rubble when two minutes later another bomb fell and sent us running. Minutes after the first strike, a bomb hit the home of Sheikh Muhammad al-Haddi, a retired army general, only a few meters from the first strike. His home was a gathering place for many in the village, who used his generator to charge their cellphones and laptops because it was the only house with reliable electricity. There were about 70 people at his house at the time of the strike, charging their devices, watching TV, playing cards, talking, and chewing qat, according to Mane`a al-Haddi, who was there at the time. The attack severely damaged Sheikh al-Haddi’s house and left it uninhabitable. Two men who ran from the house after the initial blast on the home of Mane`a al-Haddi were killed. The blast also destroyed the home of his neighbor, Nagi al-Masan, killing 3-year-old Saeed Waheb Tanbash, who was inside at the time. About two minutes later, two more bombs hit at the same time, one on the southern corner of Mane`a al-Haddi’s home, and one by the entrance to Sheikh al-Haddi’s house. Two minutes later a fifth bomb fell on the neighboring home of Naji Saleh Hadash, a retired military officer. Mane`a al-Haddi told Human Rights Watch, “It is the first time our village witnessed anything like this, the village is still in a state of terror. Even the dogs run away whenever a plane passes by now.” Nasir Mohsen al-Thaibani, a 33-year-old local resident, told Human Rights Watch that at the time of the strikes, Houthi forces were at the al-Salam military base, but he said the base was not hit by any of the airstrikes. All of the witnesses interviewed said that there were no Houthi or allied forces in the village or passing through at the time of the strikes.” [+]

Perpetrator units

Name Other Names Classification
Operation Restoring Hope [+] Arab Coalition
Arab Coalition Forces
Arab Coalition to restore legitimacy in Yemen
Gulf Arab coalition
Hope Restoration Operation
Joint Forces
Operation Renewal of Hope
Operation Storm of Resolve
Saudi-led Arab Coalition
Saudi-led Coalition
coalition forces
operations Renewal of Hope
Air Force [+]
Army [+]
Joint Operation [+]
Military [+]
Navy [+]

Sources

List of all sources used to evidence the data in this record Click the "+" symbol next to every data point in the record to see the sources used for that data point.

Publication Date Publisher Publication Title Access Date Archive Link
26 November 2015 Human Rights Watch “What Military Target Was in My Brother’s House”: Unlawful Coalition Airstrikes in Yemen 27 January 2021