SAM for Rights and Liberties monitored a series of field, human rights, and humanitarian developments in Yemen during 5–6 October 2026, a significant portion of which was concentrated in Taiz Governorate. Shelling of populated areas and villages continued, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, including among women and children. Reports also emerged of sniper fire, restrictions on the movement of residents and wounded persons, raids on homes and threats to demolish them, as well as new indications of child recruitment and use in hostilities.
These incidents coincided with the continued expansion of internal displacement and growing health and protection risks at displacement sites. At the same time, UN and humanitarian reports published during the period warned of rising conflict casualties, declining access to health care, expanding disease outbreaks, and increasing malnutrition among displaced children. This briefing also includes updates and reports published during the reporting period, although some of the underlying data cover earlier periods. Pasted markdown
SAM obtained information indicating that on 30 September, 15-year-old Youssef Abdulwarith Ali Mohammed was killed after sustaining multiple shrapnel wounds to the head, while 29-year-old Awatif Abdullah sustained multiple shrapnel injuries across her body as a result of mortar shelling that struck populated areas in the Thabat neighborhood of Taiz city.
According to information received by the organization, the shelling was attributed to the Houthi group, and the projectiles were reportedly fired from positions on Tabbat Al-Sallal, east of the governorate. Responsibility for the firing requires further technical verification of projectile trajectories, launch points, and munition remnants.
The Taiz Human Rights Center announced a preliminary toll that it said documented 26 civilian casualties on 2 October, including five people killed and 21 injured, as a result of shell fragments and sniper fire in several districts of Taiz Governorate. The Center attributed these incidents to the Houthi group.
According to the Center’s data, those killed included two-week-old infant Mohammed Muheeb Saeed, who was killed in Al-Dhabab after sustaining multiple shrapnel wounds to the head; Amani Yassin Ahmed, 30, who was killed by shell fragments in Wadi Al-Qadi; Jawas Abdullah Numan, 18, who was killed by a sniper bullet in Jabal Habashi District; Ayoub Abdulraqib, 55, who was killed by a sniper bullet to the back in Al-Shamayatayn District; and Hamoud Abdullah Saif Al-Rajhi, 31, whom the Center said was killed inside his home in the Al-Salaf area of Samea District by Houthi gunmen.
The injured identified by the Center were: Mansour Naji Mohammed, 60, shot in the chest by a sniper in Jabal Habashi; Mohammed Saleh Hassan Al-Humaidi, 60, wounded by shrapnel in his right leg in Al-Zunuj; Abdulsalam Mohammed Sultan, 50, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds in Al-Dumaynah Ghurab; six-year-old Ahmed Nabil Mohammed Naji, wounded by shrapnel in his left leg in Wadi Al-Qadi; Atikah Ali Bin Ali Al-Ezzi, 27, wounded by shrapnel in her left forearm in the Old Airport area; and Hind Abdulqader Ahmed Amin, 20, wounded by shrapnel on the left side of her head in Al-Zunuj.
The list also included Hanan Muqbil Awad, 50, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds in Al-Misrakh District; ten-year-old Arkan Abdulrahman Numan Al-Zakri, wounded by shrapnel in his left leg in the Al-Shamasi Al-Thawrah area; Hadeel Abdulrahman Sharaf Qasim, 18, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds to the right side of her abdomen in Samea; Dizan Hael Shamsan, 35, who sustained multiple abdominal shrapnel injuries in Samea; two-and-a-half-year-old Ahmed Aref Abdu Qasim, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds near Al-Hayat Station in Al-Dhabab; Salah Ahmed Mohammed, 25, who sustained multiple shrapnel wounds in Al-Misrakh; Ziyad Abdullah Humaid, 27, wounded by shell shrapnel in the palm of his left hand in Al-Misrakh; and Mohammed Saeed Mohammed, 35, shot by a sniper in his left leg in Samea.
The list further included Amr Khaled Al-Raimi, 14, who was shot by a sniper at Asayfirah Roundabout; Amin Tawfiq Amin, 17, wounded by shell fragments in the shoulder at the Judicial Complex; Najm Al-Din Nabil Ahmed Sultan, 18, wounded by shrapnel in the eye and forehead at the Judicial Complex; Yassin Nabil Ahmed Sultan, 11, wounded by shrapnel in the right side of the waist at the same location; Ahmed Nabil Ahmed Sultan, five, wounded by shrapnel in the back; Donia Abdulqader Amin, 16, wounded by shrapnel in the right leg; and Suad Sadeq Amin, 40, wounded by shrapnel in the foot, all in the vicinity of the Judicial Complex, according to the Center’s documentation.
SAM presents this toll as documentation issued by a local human rights organization, requiring cross-checking against medical records, testimonies from victims and their families, and documentation of impact sites before it can be adopted as an independently verified final toll. The large number of children among the casualties is particularly significant when assessing the impact of weapons used in populated areas.
On 5 October, lawyer Abdulrahman Barman published a message he said he had received from a father describing an attempt to take his 16-year-old son to participate in fighting in Taiz. According to the message, an individual told the father—who said he was ill, had undergone operations and medical treatment, and had been without a salary for years—that his son was now capable of carrying a weapon and going to Taiz.
On 5 October, SAM monitored video footage concerning minors whom accompanying information said had been recruited by the Houthi group and sent to front lines.
Among the material reviewed by the organization was a video concerning a minor reportedly brought from Saada Governorate and deployed to western coast front lines before being captured during fighting in Bab Al-Mandab, as well as a second video among the materials monitored by SAM.
These cases require further verification of the children’s ages and identities, the circumstances of their recruitment, training and transfer, and the parties and individuals involved in their recruitment. Priority must be given to protecting them as children affected by armed conflict and ensuring that they are not exposed to stigmatization or retaliation.
On 5 October, journalist Fathi Bin Lazrq published a message from a resident of Al-Turbah who said he had seen Houthi elements taking out explosive devices disguised as stones and distributing them among vehicles and trucks.
The account does not include photographs of the devices or technical information concerning their type, triggering mechanisms, or the locations to which they were allegedly transported. SAM therefore presents it as a report requiring urgent verification, given the serious danger that disguised munitions and explosive devices could pose to civilians, particularly children and passersby, if placed in civilian areas or on roads used by residents.
On 5 October, the Taiz Human Rights Center said that at approximately 5:00 p.m., an artillery shell struck Al-Hangar checkpoint, the main western entrance to Taiz city, killing one civilian and injuring six travelers. The Center attributed the attack to the Houthi group.
The Center identified the person killed as Abduljabbar Hael Saeed, 21. Those injured were Mufid Abdulmajid, 25; Afaf Nasr Ahmed Ali, 28; Mona Ali Saif, 55; Abdulaziz Amin Ali, 26; Fayez Saeed Mohammed, 44; and Nada Idris Muammar, 28. Activists also published a video documenting the aftermath of the incident.
On 5 October, Ahmed Al-Bakari reported that the Houthi group shelled the villages of Al-Armah and Al-Buraihah in Jabal Habashi District, west of Taiz.
The incident constitutes a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law requiring parties to the conflict to distinguish between civilians and military objectives and to take the necessary precautions to protect the population. The shelling renders the group responsible for resulting civilian harm and warrants investigation and accountability for any unlawful attacks against civilians or civilian objects.
In an update issued on 5 October, the International Organization for Migration said intense clashes in Yemen had displaced more than 184,000 people between 1 August and 4 October, with the majority displaced since the beginning of September.
IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix recorded 21,798 people, representing 3,633 families, displaced at least once between 27 September and 3 October, a 26 percent increase compared with the previous week. The organization added that another 6,474 people, representing 1,079 families, were displaced on 4 October alone.
A rapid protection needs assessment conducted at three displacement sites in Marib found that the lack of safe shelter remained one of the most serious vulnerabilities. Some assessed families were sleeping in the open, exposing them to violence and the effects of the conflict. Women and girls also raised concerns about the lack of appropriate and safe toilets.
The organization said approximately 45 percent of assessed families had been displaced previously and that the loss of property and reliance on unstable livelihoods limited their ability to cope. It warned that, under such conditions, families could resort to harmful coping mechanisms, including child labor. The assessment also identified multiple and overlapping vulnerabilities among persons with disabilities, female-headed households, children, and older persons.
IOM said it continued to work with local authorities and humanitarian partners to provide newly displaced families with emergency shelter, essential household items, cash assistance, safe water, sanitation, and protection services. It called for the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers and for safe and unhindered humanitarian access.
On 4 October, the International Organization for Migration published the story of Wafaa and her family in Taiz, illustrating the long-term effects of conflict, displacement, and damage to civilian housing.
According to the story, the family’s neighborhood became one of the dangerous front-line areas in 2015, with shells landing and gunfire occurring near their home. Windows were shattered and walls damaged, ultimately forcing the family to flee and become separated between relatives’ homes and temporary shelters. Wafaa said the sounds of shelling continued to affect her to this day.
The story added that Wafaa’s father used to return to the area during periods of calm to inspect the house and the destruction it had sustained. He later died of a heart attack after being deeply affected by the devastation he witnessed, leaving the family without both its home and its breadwinner.
IOM also said that before armed groups withdrew from the area, explosives had been planted inside the house with the intention of destroying it. The explosives were subsequently removed following a ceasefire, preventing the house from being completely destroyed. Nevertheless, years of conflict left the building uninhabitable, with damage to its roof, doors, windows, and walls.
IOM said its housing rehabilitation program in Salah District assisted 15 families, including Wafaa’s, by repairing roofs, walls, floors, doors, windows, and water and sanitation facilities, as well as providing essential household items. The organization also referred to vocational training and practical skills development opportunities offered to some families through peace and recovery programs to strengthen livelihoods and self-reliance.
The case illustrates that the impact of armed conflict on civilians does not end when direct hostilities cease. It may continue for years through displacement, loss of housing and income, family separation, risks posed by explosives planted in homes, and damage that prevents safe return.
On 6 October, the Yemeni News Agency, Saba, said six civilians were killed and four others injured, including women and children, in shelling that struck residential villages in Al-Mawasit and Al-Misrakh districts and the Qadas area in southern Taiz Governorate. The agency attributed the shelling to the Houthi group.
In Al-Mawasit District, sources cited by the agency said one woman was killed and four other civilians, including a child and two women, were injured when shelling struck the villages of Al-Dawm, Hajarah, and Al-Manawid in the Bani Youssef area.
In Al-Misrakh District, the sources reported that Dirham Ahmed Amir, his wife, his daughter, his son’s wife, and her children were killed when a mortar shell struck the family’s home in Al-Sarm village. Ahmed Al-Bakari also published a separate account stating that an entire family had been killed in Al-Sarm village in the Al-Aqrudh area of Al-Misrakh as a result of the shelling.
On 6 October, journalist Fares Al-Humairi reported civilian casualties as a result of fighting and shelling in the Qadas area. He cited residents as saying that Houthi gunmen were besieging several residential villages and preventing residents from leaving, including preventing some wounded people from being transported to medical and health facilities for treatment.
The Saba News Agency also reported similar information concerning civilian casualties in Qadas, the continued siege of several villages, and the prevention of residents and wounded persons from leaving to obtain medical treatment. The convergence between the two sources warrants further field verification, particularly regarding the names of the besieged villages, the number of residents affected, and the wounded persons who were unable to be evacuated.
If wounded persons were arbitrarily prevented from accessing medical care, this would raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law, which requires respect for, collection and care of the wounded and sick and access to medical services.
On 6 October, Salah Al-Rahal reported that a passenger bus came under gunfire on the Al-Suha Karbah road, resulting, according to his account, in the deaths of two women and injuries to others who were taken to hospitals in Al-Turbah.
The source does not identify the party responsible for the shooting, nor does it provide the victims’ names or the number of injured persons. Responsibility for the incident therefore cannot be attributed on the basis of the available material alone. The incident requires verification of the location and direction of the gunfire and the identity of the force or individuals present in the area at the time.
Reports emerged on 6 October of new violations in villages of Jabal Habashi District. Hamza Al-Jubaihi published information indicating that Houthi gunmen had threatened families of individuals affiliated with the army in Anaqib village, demanding that they bring in their sons or relatives and threatening to blow up the families’ homes if they failed to comply.
In another report, journalist Anwar Al-Amiri said Houthi elements had raided residents’ homes in the villages of Anaqib and Al-Maqatin in Uzlat Al-Buraihah, Jabal Habashi, searched women’s phones, and threatened to blow up homes unless individuals from the area surrendered themselves.
If established, these reports raise concerns regarding the use of threats to destroy property as a means of exerting pressure on the family members of wanted individuals, in addition to violations of the sanctity of the home and privacy. Family members may not be held responsible for the acts of their relatives, nor may their homes be used as a means of coercion or punishment.
The sixth situation report issued by the Health Cluster and the World Health Organization, covering 27 September to 2 October and issued on 4 October, showed that the cumulative toll since 6 August had reached 5,166 casualties, including 959 deaths.
The report recorded 685 new casualties over six days, an average of 114 per day, compared with 101 per day during the previous period. It noted that Taiz had become the front with the highest casualty burden, with daily casualties rising from eight to 109 within one week as fighting moved into Taiz city. The first casualty reports were also received from Hadramout and Al-Jawf, while conditions remained severe in Lahj and Marib.
The health report warned that the “golden hour” for saving the wounded was being lost because of insufficient trauma stabilization points close to the front lines, noting that six of the 20 planned Tier 1 Trauma Stabilization Points lacked partner support.
The report said this shortage delays stabilization of wounded patients and their access to surgery during the critical first hour following injury, highlighting an urgent need for skilled personnel, ambulances, and surgical supplies closer to the front lines.
It also stressed that communication blackouts and protection risks hamper real-time data collection from both sides of the front lines, meaning that reported figures represent a minimum. Reports of attacks on health care are particularly difficult to verify.
According to the same health report, 29,519 families had been displaced across ten governorates, amounting to nearly 200,000 people, an 8 percent increase over five days, with approximately two-thirds of the increase occurring in Lahj Governorate.
The report also showed displacement expanding into eastern governorates. The number of registered families in Hadramout, Al-Mahrah, and Shabwah rose to 454, compared with 201 families on 23 September. The Mukalla hub reported an additional 429 families in Al-Abr in Wadi Hadramout that had not yet been included in the consolidated report. More than 3,600 people had also crossed into Djibouti.
The Health Cluster report said suspected cholera cases had tripled within three weeks, from 217 cases in epidemiological week 36 to 647 cases in week 39, with 94 percent of recent cases concentrated in Abyan, Lahj, Al-Dhale’e, Taiz, and Aden—governorates hosting large displaced populations.
The previous four weeks accounted for 1,892 of the 7,871 suspected cholera cases reported during the year, as well as 11 of the 27 cholera-associated deaths. Eighty-nine percent of rapid diagnostic tests were positive.
The surveillance system also recorded two culture-confirmed cholera cases in Al-Abr, Hadramout, during the previous four weeks, among 12 suspected cases reported by the Mukalla hub. The rapid response team had not yet reached Gharan camp, where two cases had been identified.
The report said more than 22,000 suspected measles cases and 128 deaths had been reported in 2026 through epidemiological week 38, with a notable increase in Hadramout as displaced families arrived.
It noted that WHO/UNICEF estimates for 2023 placed coverage for each measles vaccine dose at only approximately 45 percent, compared with the 95 percent required to interrupt transmission. WHO warned that conflict disrupts routine immunization and that overcrowding at displacement sites increases the risk of transmission, while malnourished children face the greatest risk of death.
WHO recommended an additional measles vaccine dose for internally displaced children beginning at six months of age, together with vitamin A supplementation.
Screening conducted by International Medical Corps mobile medical teams among 54 displaced children under five found that nine suffered from severe acute malnutrition and 29 from moderate acute malnutrition.
The report also said at least five facilities had run out of ready-to-use therapeutic food, while three others had exhausted supplementary food supplies, further compounding the risks faced by malnourished children amid displacement and disrupted health services.
The incidents recorded during this period demonstrate the convergence of several patterns of harm to civilians: artillery and mortar shelling in populated areas, sniper fire, attacks affecting travelers and civilian roads, threats against homes and raids on them, restrictions on the movement of civilians and wounded persons, and renewed indications of child recruitment.
Not every incident reported by a local source can be regarded as established to the same evidentiary standard, as the level of available information varies from one case to another. Final attribution of responsibility therefore requires examination of incident sites, munition remnants, firing directions, medical records, and testimony from victims and witnesses, alongside available military and technical information.
Cases involving gunfire against civilians or shelling of homes and residential villages raise concerns regarding compliance with the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack. Preventing wounded persons from accessing health care, if established, would also implicate specific obligations to protect and care for the wounded and sick and ensure their access to medical treatment.
Reports concerning children being taken or attempts to recruit them for fighting require urgent measures to determine their whereabouts and safety and to halt any recruitment or use of children in hostilities, alongside investigations into recruitment channels and the individuals and entities involved.
Similarly, threats to blow up the homes of families of wanted individuals, if established, raise concerns regarding collective punishment and pressure imposed on civilians for the acts of others. Raids on homes and searches of personal property and phones also require documentation of the grounds on which such measures were carried out and the extent to which residents’ rights and protections were respected.
At the same time, displacement and health data show that harm extends well beyond the immediate battlefield. Loss of housing, repeated displacement, overcrowding, and weak services increase the risks of disease, malnutrition, child labor, violence, and wider protection concerns, while communication disruptions and shortages of trauma stabilization points and medical supplies reduce the chances of saving the wounded during the critical first hours after injury.
The materials monitored by SAM and updates published during the reporting period indicate a continued escalation in the direct and indirect impact of the conflict on civilians in Taiz and other parts of Yemen. Incidents included deaths and injuries among women and children, shelling of villages, homes, and routes used by civilians, reports of child recruitment, threats and raids against homes, and restrictions on the movement of civilians and wounded persons, alongside a rapid increase in displacement and worsening health, disease, and malnutrition crises.
SAM stresses the need for independent and effective investigations into incidents resulting in civilian deaths and injuries, verification of weapons use in populated areas, documentation of victims’ names, and preservation of medical and technical evidence. It further calls for determining the fate of children at risk of recruitment, ensuring freedom of movement for civilians and wounded persons and their access to health care, and ending threats against families and homes or their use as a means of pressure and coercion.
SAM also stresses the need to ensure unhindered humanitarian access and adequate funding for shelter, health, water, protection, and nutrition services, with priority given to children, women, persons with disabilities, and families subjected to repeated displacement, amid clear indications that humanitarian needs are expanding faster than the current capacity to respond.