Yemen: One child killed, injured every day in 2022, charity says

More than one child has been killed or injured every day this year in war-torn Yemen.

Data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project shows 92 children were killed and 241 injured for a total of 333 up until 15 November 2022.

Save the Children said in a Saturday press release that children from Taiz had told the charity they were worried about their safety since the truce across Yemen expired after six months in October.

"Before the truce, our minds would always be on high alert, imagining that a shell might fall at any second," said one 14-year-old.

"We never felt safe. However, during the truce, we felt safe going out and playing as well as going to school and studying. We knew nothing would happen because there is a truce."

While the truce in Yemen saw "positive gains", Save the Children said, hundreds of children have still been killed or injured in 2022.

In 2021, there were 681 child casualties in Yemen, with 201 of them killed and 480 maimed, according to United Nations figures.

Save the Children arranged "hearing sessions" for children in the country, to commemorate Sunday's World Children's Day.

Children at a Taiz event came up with recommendations for decision-makers and humanitarian actors.

They urged that protecting children from violence and abuse be a key concern and that schools and hospitals are safeguarded against attacks.

They also called for the brokering of an extended truce throughout Yemen as a pathway towards enduring peace.

Save the Children's Yemen country director Rama Hansraj said: "Our teams in Yemen regularly meet children who have been robbed of their childhood and their fundamental right to life.

"Children are killed, maimed, abused, and forced to worry about their survival in Yemen every single day.

It is the first operation of its kind claimed by the Huthis since the end of a six-month truce between Yemen's warring parties on October 2.https://t.co/McFg1Bl15W

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 22, 2022

"There can never be a justification for killing or abusing children and the world must act now to stop the impunity of these crimes."

Yemen's war began in 2014 when Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa.

The following year, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the internationally recognised government. The Houthis are backed by Iran, Riyadh's biggest rival in the region.

Both sides have been accused of grave violations by rights groups.