Dhamar Governorate: Cluster Bombs Claim Children’s Lives and Turn Homes into Death Traps
Statement by the Entisaf Organization regarding crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition—including the targeting of civilians and children in Dhamar, Saada, Hodeidah, and Taiz, and the use of internationally banned cluster bombs—with a call for investigation and accountability.
Sanaa – October 16, 2026
The Entisaf Organization for Women and Child Rights condemns, in the strongest possible terms, a series of recent crimes and violations against civilians across several Yemeni governorates. These acts reveal a persistent, direct targeting of civilian areas and infrastructure, demonstrating the Saudi-led coalition’s utter disregard for the lives of civilians—including children, women, and African migrants—in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the principles governing the protection of civilians.
The organization asserts that the incident in Dhamar Governorate constitutes a grave crime; Saudi-led coalition aircraft targeted civilian homes in the villages of Al-Ar and Barza, located in the Dawran Anis District, using cluster bombs. According to reported figures, this attack resulted in the deaths of three children and injuries to seven other civilians, including women.
The severity of this crime is compounded by the nature of the weaponry employed and the fact that the bombardment occurred in a densely populated area. The organization emphasizes that the use of cluster munitions in civilian zones places lives in immediate danger and leaves behind unexploded ordnance, which continues to pose a lethal threat to children and the local population long after the attacks have ceased. The organization emphasizes that children are not military targets and that civilian homes are not battlegrounds; such actions constitute a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law. In Saada Governorate, Saudi artillery targeted populated villages in the border district of Razih, directly endangering civilians. Concurrently, three African migrants were struck by Saudi fire in the Baqim and Munabbih districts, and a citizen sustained serious injuries from artillery shelling that hit the outskirts of a marketplace in the Shada district.
The organization asserts that targeting villages, residential areas, and marketplaces—as well as endangering migrants—violates the principle of civilian protection. It calls for an investigation into the circumstances of these attacks and the identification of those responsible. In Al-Hudaydah Governorate, two airstrikes hit the Al-Taif area in the Ad-Durayhimi district—a continuation of assaults that threaten the civilian population and the essential means of their survival in coastal regions.
In Taiz Governorate, Saudi-led coalition aircraft targeted a health center in the Al-Mashawalah sub-district of Al-Wazi’iyah, resulting in the death of one citizen and injuries to a woman. The organization asserts that targeting health facilities—or the areas surrounding them—constitutes a grave violation of the protections afforded to medical facilities, units, and personnel under international humanitarian law. Furthermore, it undermines the right of civilians to access healthcare, amounting to a full-fledged crime of targeting civilians.
The occurrence of these crimes across Dhamar, Saada, Hodeidah, and Taiz—affecting diverse groups, including children, women, ordinary citizens, and migrants, and involving attacks on homes, villages, markets, and health facilities—reveals a dangerous pattern of endangering the civilian population.
Entisaf Organization warns that the continuation of these assaults, in the absence of investigation and accountability, encourages their recurrence, deepens a culture of impunity, and renders the protection of civilians a mere theoretical concept with no practical application.
The organization emphasizes that the killing and injury of children, the bombardment of inhabited homes, the targeting of markets, the endangerment of migrants, and strikes on health facilities are all acts that demand investigation and accountability under the rules of international humanitarian law.
The organization calls for an independent, impartial, and transparent international investigation into all recent crimes against civilians in Dhamar, Saada, Hodeidah, and Taiz. This includes, specifically, an investigation into the use of cluster munitions in a populated area within the Dawran Anis district, with the aim of identifying those responsible for ordering and executing the attack.
Furthermore, it calls for the comprehensive documentation of all victims, with particular attention given to the protection and documentation of cases involving children, women, and migrants. This includes protecting homes, villages, markets, health centers, and all other civilian objects from being targeted; ensuring adherence to the principles of distinction and proportionality; and taking urgent measures to mitigate the risks posed by cluster munitions and their remnants to children and the civilian population.
Furthermore, it calls for holding accountable all those found responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian law, ensuring that there is no impunity. It also emphasizes the importance of providing medical treatment, as well as psychological and social support, to victims and those affected, and ensuring they receive reparation for the harm they have suffered.
Issued by the Entisaf Organization for Women and Child Rights
Sanaa, Republic of Yemen