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Incident on 26 April 2015 [+] Print this page

Location: a bridge in Al-Daliel area, Ibb Governorate [+]

Country: Yemen [+]

Violation types: Aerial attack may tantamount to war crimes in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law [+]

Location


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This incident took place in a bridge in Al-Daliel area, Ibb Governorate, Yemen [+]

Description


According to Mwatana for Human Rights: "Despite the statements issued by the Spokesman of the Arab Allied Forces –Brigadier General Ahmed Aseeri- that all precautionary measures were taken to avoid civilian casualties and to ensure the safety and security of all Yemenis, a sizable number of the coalition’ aerial attacks did target civilian areas and resulted in killing and injury of civilian, damage of homes, civil institutions and infrastructures. These violations may tantamount to war crimes in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law. [...] On 26 April 2015, 22 civilians were killed, including two children, and 32 others were wounded including five children in an airstrike, by the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighter jets that targeted a bridge in Al-Daliel area in Al-Makhader district which is located about 16 kilometers to the north of Ibb city. Salah Masoud (25 years old), whose two brothers were killed in the strike, narrated to Mwatana about moments of terror he experienced: “I was talking with my brother while I was under the bridge, my younger brother was next to me, and my 2-year-old nephew was on my lap, and my older brother was on the bridge. Suddenly we heard a huge explosion and I did not feel anything afterwards. I was running and trying to catch my breath, I don’t know how I survived. My brothers died, the eldest who was the only breadwinner for our family, and my younger brother. After I ran away from the bomb, there was a man calling me to take the young child as he was thrown on the ground. I went back to take my nephew and saw that he had suffered burns on the right side of his head. As for my brothers, we didn’t find their remains to bury them.” Salah went on to say: “After the incident, every day I leave home to the sound of my mom crying and I return home to the sound of her crying too. I became the sole breadwinner of the remaining five members of my family.” In an interview with Khaled Al- Ghaithi (30 years old), one of the eyewitnesses, he said that the remains of some of the victims were scattered everywhere to the point that residents were unable to collect them or even identify who they belong to. Al- Ghaithi went on: “Before the planes hit, we heard the sound of the planes flying over the area, then the first bomb fell around 10:00 a.m. After that the second bomb fell after approximately 10 minutes. The second bomb left many victims because people had gathered to rescue the wounded from the first bomb when the second bomb fell next to them and killed everyone.” He added: “I was in my field when I heard the sound of the first explosion. I knelt down on my knees when I heard the sound, then I saw the smoke rise. Some rocks and dust that were blown by the explosion fell over our heads. The sound of the second bomb was stronger than the first. I was then with my mother and my brother, my mother was not able to walk or run away due to her old age, so I had to carry her on my back. I saw a huge crowd of people running, and when I would look back, I would see people running without knowing where they are going.”" [+]

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
15 December 2015 Mwatana for Human Rights Blind Air Strikes 09 October 2019