https://samrl.org/l?e5798 

SAM |

^{12 September 2026}

^{SAM for Rights and Liberties monitored, on 11 and 12 September 2026, a series of developments that raised growing concerns regarding the protection of civilians and civilian objects amid the military escalation in Yemen and its extension into Saudi territory. The reported incidents included the killing of a pregnant woman and her unborn child after a mortar shell struck a residential area southeast of Taiz; injuries to two people and damage to a mosque, buildings, and vehicles in Al-Tuwal Governorate in Saudi Arabia’s Jazan region following the impact of a projectile; reports of the storming and looting of judicial premises and the detention of a public prosecutor in Hodeidah; and allegations that the grave of a former military commander was exhumed and his remains desecrated in Al-Khawkhah.}

^{At the same time, the Taiz Human Rights Center (THRC) announced on 11 September an extensive preliminary toll of violations that it said its team had documented over the preceding 72 hours in districts along the western coast. The Center reported 139 people killed and approximately 180 others injured, including civilians, prisoners, and members of displaced families, in addition to the displacement of approximately 2,300 families comprising 19,440 people. Given the scale of these figures and the wide range of incidents they encompass, SAM treats them as a preliminary toll attributed to the Center and does not adopt them as final figures pending independent verification of individual cases and the underlying data sources.}

^{Western Coast – Preliminary Toll of Hundreds Killed and Injured and Approximately 19,000 Displaced}

^{On 11 September, the Taiz Human Rights Center announced that its field monitoring team had documented, over the previous 72 hours, 139 people killed and approximately 180 others injured. It said the toll included civilians, prisoners, and members of displaced families, and attributed the violations to the Houthi group.}

^{The Center said the developments coincided with a military escalation and the group’s takeover of districts along the western coast, including Hays and Al-Khawkhah in southern Hodeidah, as well as Al-Wazi'iyah, Mawza, Al-Mokha, and Dhubab in western Taiz.}

^{It added that some of the incidents it documented involved civilians and displaced persons while they were attempting to flee areas of fighting, alongside attacks on populated areas using missiles, drones, and artillery shells. The Center stressed that the announced casualty figures were preliminary and could rise as monitoring and verification of victims and field incidents continued.}

^{According to its statement, the Center also documented the displacement of approximately 2,300 families comprising 19,440 people from western coastal districts amid continued fighting, shelling, and fears that hostilities would spread into residential areas.}

^{The Center further alleged that dozens of homes had been raided and their contents looted, and that preachers affiliated with the group had been forcibly imposed on a number of mosques in districts that had come under its control.}

^{Given that the overall toll combines a large number of different incidents, and that the Center did not publish in its statement a detailed breakdown of all victims and incidents comprising the announced figures, SAM continues to independently verify individual cases and does not, at this stage, adopt the figure of 139 killed and 180 injured as a final casualty toll.}

^{As for the allegations that preachers were forcibly imposed on mosques, if substantiated, they would raise concerns regarding freedom of religion or belief, freedom to practice religious rites, and the prohibition of subjecting local communities to religious or ideological coercion.}

^{Al-Shaqab – Pregnant Woman and Her Unborn Child Killed by Mortar Shell}

^{On 12 September, the Taiz Human Rights Center reported the killing of Maliyah Abduljalil Mahyoub Ali, 32, and her unborn child, who was in the eighth month of gestation, after a mortar shell struck residential homes in Naqil Al-Haddah in the Al-Shaqab area, southeast of Taiz Governorate.}

^{The Center attributed the shelling to the Houthi group and said its field team visited the scene and documented that shrapnel from the shell entered the victim’s body through her back and exited through her abdomen, causing her death and that of her unborn child.}

^{The incident is particularly serious given that, according to the information published by the Center, it occurred in a residential area and resulted in the death of a civilian inside a home. SAM continues to verify the shell’s point of impact and origin, the nature of the surrounding area, and whether any military objectives were located near the site at the time of the attack.}

^{SAM stresses that the use of weapons with explosive effects in populated areas imposes a strict obligation on parties to the conflict to verify targets and take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians. Indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks are prohibited.}

^{Jazan – Two Injured and Damage to a Mosque, Buildings, and Vehicles in Al-Tuwal}

^{On 12 September, the Saudi Civil Defense announced that a projectile had landed in Al-Tuwal Governorate in the Jazan region, stating that it had been launched by the Houthi group.}

^{According to the statement, the incident resulted in two injuries, as well as material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles.}

^{Based on the information published, insufficient details are available regarding the location the projectile was originally intended to strike or the nature of the intended target. A complete legal characterization of the attack therefore cannot be made without additional information concerning the target, the projectile’s trajectory, and the military circumstances surrounding the incident.}

^{SAM stresses that civilians, civilian buildings, and places of worship are protected from attack unless they become military objectives under the criteria established by international humanitarian law. Even when a lawful military objective is targeted, the rules of proportionality and precautions in attack remain applicable.}

^{Hodeidah – Reports of Judicial Premises Stormed and Their Contents Looted}

^{On 12 September, the Hodeidah Governorate Media Office reported that members of the Houthi group had stormed a number of judicial premises in areas recently brought under their control in the south of the governorate and seized devices, equipment, documents, and other property found inside.}

^{According to the source, the affected sites included judicial premises in Al-Khawkhah city, offices of the Public Prosecution and Court of Appeal, as well as the courts of first instance in Al-Khawkhah and Hays. The source said the alleged seizures included equipment, furniture, documents and case files relating to citizens, as well as deposited trusts and other property held at the facilities.}

^{If the unlawful appropriation of property from judicial facilities in the context of the armed conflict is established, it would raise serious concerns under the prohibition on pillage in international humanitarian law, in addition to the potential consequences that the loss of judicial files, deposited property, and records could have for litigants’ rights and access to justice.}

^{Hays – Public Prosecutor Detained Inside Judicial Premises}

^{In connection with the same events, the Hodeidah Governorate Media Office reported that armed members of the Houthi group entered the Public Prosecution Office in Hays District and detained prosecutor Judge Abdulrazzaq Mohsen Saleh Halboob.}

^{According to the source, the judge contacted the chief prosecutor for Hodeidah in areas controlled by the group and requested that his detention be ended, citing his judicial position and immunity. Nevertheless, the armed men reportedly kept him under their supervision pending the arrival of judicial officials from Hodeidah to review his case.}

^{At the time of preparing this briefing, SAM had no independent information regarding the duration of the judge’s detention or whether he was subsequently released. Nor was it clear what legal basis, if any, the armed men invoked for detaining him.}

^{If verified, the incident raises concerns regarding the safety and independence of members of the judiciary and the need to protect judges and prosecutors from threats, detention, or pressure related to the performance of their judicial duties.}

^{Al-Khawkhah – Allegations of Exhumation and Desecration of a Former Military Commander’s Remains}

^{On 11 September, journalist Mahmoud Al-Otmi reported that members of the Houthi group had exhumed the grave of Brigadier General Yahya Al-Wahish in Al-Khawkhah and fired shots at his remains.}

^{Journalist Mujahid Al-Qabb published a similar account, adding that the individuals had allegedly desecrated the remains and trampled on the bones, and that he had received information indicating that the remains were subsequently removed and discarded in an area east of Al-Khawkhah.}

^{Al-Wahish was a military commander in the National Resistance Forces and was killed several months earlier in an improvised explosive device attack in the Al-Khawkhah area.}

^{At the time of preparing this briefing, SAM had no independent sources or sufficient material evidence to verify the alleged exhumation or the details concerning the treatment of the remains. SAM therefore treats the incident as an allegation requiring further verification.}

^{SAM stresses that the obligation to respect the dead, their remains, and their graves applies regardless of the military status a person held during their lifetime. International humanitarian law prohibits the desecration of the dead and requires graves and human remains to be treated with respect and human dignity.}

^{Human Rights Implications}

^{The incidents reported on 11 and 12 September demonstrate the continuing expansion of the civilian and security consequences of the escalation, with risks extending beyond areas of direct fighting to homes, residential neighborhoods, displacement areas, judicial institutions, and places of worship.}

^{The killing of Maliyah Abduljalil Mahyoub Ali and her unborn child stands out as a direct example of the dangers civilians face when explosive weapons are used in populated areas and warrants an independent investigation into the origin of the shell, its intended target, and the precautions taken before it was fired.}

^{At the same time, if the casualty toll announced by the Taiz Human Rights Center can be verified in detail, it would indicate an extremely serious level of human loss over a short period. The scale of the figures, however, requires documentation at the level of each individual incident and victim, differentiation between civilians, combatants, and prisoners, and determination of the cause and circumstances of each death or injury.}

^{Reports concerning the storming of judicial facilities, looting of their contents, and detention of a public prosecutor raise additional concerns that go beyond property and extend to the independence of the judiciary, the integrity of judicial records and case files, and the rights of citizens associated with them.}

^{Likewise, the allegations concerning the exhumation of Brigadier General Yahya Al-Wahish’s grave, if substantiated, would constitute a violation of the obligation to respect the dead, their remains, and their graves—obligations that do not cease to apply because of the deceased person’s former military status.}

^{The Al-Tuwal incident in Saudi Arabia also demonstrates the continuing risks posed by cross-border attacks to civilians and civilian infrastructure, particularly given the reported injuries and damage to a mosque, buildings, and vehicles.}

^{SAM stresses that all parties to the conflict are required at all times to distinguish between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, to respect the principle of proportionality, to refrain from indiscriminate attacks, and to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm.}

^{SAM calls for independent and effective investigations into the killing of the pregnant woman and her unborn child in Al-Shaqab, the projectile impact in Al-Tuwal, the allegations concerning the storming and looting of judicial premises and the detention of Judge Abdulrazzaq Halboob, and the alleged exhumation of Yahya Al-Wahish’s grave, as well as detailed verification of the broader casualty toll announced by the Taiz Human Rights Center.}

^{SAM continues to collect information and verify the names and ages of victims, attack locations, the types of weapons used and their points of origin, the extent of damage, and the parties responsible for the reported incidents, while refraining from treating aggregate casualty figures or accounts that have not yet undergone full verification as established facts.}