August is the bloodiest month in Yemen

Nearly 1000 civilians were killed or injured in August, 300 of them children.

Civilians in the line of fire

981 civilians were killed or injured in August, making it the bloodiest month of the year in Yemen. Fighting between Saudi-backed forces and Huthi rebels resulted in August's carnage.

"Yemen has become a free zone of violence where people who gather to go to a wedding, funeral or market risk their lives. The suffering of the people of Yemen is an affront to our common humanity."

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam country director in Yemen.

"It is a shameful chapter of diplomatic ambiguity, underhanded deals and sheer hypocrisy. How many more children will be killed before those who support this war will take responsibility? War crimes are committed regularly and the perpetrators and those actively involved must be held accountable. The carnage must end", adds Siddiquey.

Newly launched peace talks

Putting an end to the killing of civilians must be a priority and new peace talks in Geneva provide an opportunity to end the attacks on innocent people in many parts of the country.

Despite assurances that fighting around the port city of Hodeida was "paused", a bloody attack on a market in the city in early August killed 41 civilians, including six children and four women, and injured 111. More civilians were also injured when a hospital in the city was attacked.

On August 9, 46 people died and 100 were injured when a market and a bus full of school children were bombed. Most were boys under the age of 13. Later that month, at least 22 children and four women were killed in an airstrike while fleeing an attack the day before.

Fighting does not seem to be slowing down

Fighting continues towards the south of Hodeida, focusing on Ad Durayhimi city, and is ongoing in residential areas of the city which are also subject to air strikes. Residents can neither escape nor access medical care. Relief agencies are also struggling due to fighting and blocked roads, and thousands of people have no access to water after water systems were destroyed in the war. This increases the risk of a third cholera outbreak.

War crimes and air strikes

All warring parties have violated the laws of war and according to the UN, 17,062 civilians have been killed or injured between March 26, 2015 and August 9, 2018, the majority (10,471 people) as a result of the Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes.

"Yemen is on the verge of collapse. There must be an end to the fighting and peace in the country. We welcome the talks in Geneva. But the killing must stop."

Muhsin Siddiquey, Oxfam country director in Yemen.

Oxfam in Yemen

Oxfam is on the ground in war-torn Yemen. Since July 2015, we have reached over 2.8 million people with food, water, and other supplies in what has been described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.