Conflict in Yemen is taking an extremely significant toll on civilians

Around 1080 people were killed and 4352 injured from 19 March to 20 April 2015, including a large number of civilians; 18 out of 22 governorates are now affected by the conflict. Most of the roads connecting Sana’a to the governorates of Aden, Taiz, Al-Dha’ale, and Lahj are becoming gradually inaccessible, thus making the delivery of life-saving medicines a serious challenge. On 20 April, an explosion took place in the area of Attan-south of Sana’a city, causing large-scale damage to residential areas. This explosion caused the death of 39 people and injured 547 people.

Since the beginning of the crisis, more than 400 registered refugees and an estimated 2700 unregistered migrants are currently hosted in Djibouti. IOM reported that total arrivals from Yemen to the Horn of Africa, including to Djibouti, Somaliland and Puntland, have increased by 8,344 people this week. This brings the total since conflict escalated in mid-March to an estimated 10,263 people. Over 60 per cent are third country nationals who need assistance to return home. The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates that over 10,000 families are newly displaced by escalating conflict in Hajjah, Al Hudaydah and Abyan governorates. Around 3,500 of these families are living in open spaces or in tents and other improvised shelters. Many lost all their belongings. In total, at least 150,000 people are estimated to have been displaced across Yemen since March 2015. Al Dhale’e is becoming the “forgotten governorate” of the conflict. An estimated 9,000 households have been left with no assistance to date. The main hospital (Al Nasr Hospital) has no electricity and fuel. Health units have only basic medical supplies; food is scarce, and water, electricity and telecommunication networks are not disabled or challenged. OCHA continues to work with local partners to try to find alternative routes to deliver food assistance, as access from Aden is difficult. Possible alternatives include delivering assistance via Dhammar-Ibb into Al Dhale’e.