Arab News | Houthis forcing children to fight on Yemen’s battlefields, civil society groups warn

RIYADH: The Houthi militia in Yemen is forcing children to fight in their latest offensives against government forces in the country, civil society groups warned on Saturday.

The Iran-backed militia launched attacks at the start of August, ending a four-year truce in the conflict.

The Houthi offensive has sparked widespread suffering for civilians, with the group attacking civilian areas, killing women and children, and bombing schools and hospitals, the civil society organizations said in a joint statement.

“Children have borne the brunt of these violations through forced recruitment, being thrust into battlefields, and being deprived of their most basic rights,” the statement said.

“The recruitment or use of children to participate in hostilities constitutes a war crime,” the groups added.

The Houthis have long been accused by the UN and human rights groups of using child soldiers in the Yemen conflict, which started in 2014 when the militia seized control of the capital Sanaa.

The renewed surge in fighting has led to an increase in cases of children being found on the battlefield.

The civil rights organizations said that following the Houthi militia’s recent military operations, which included retaking strategic areas of the Red Sea coast, numerous cases have been recorded of children being recruited by the militia and thrust into combat zones.

Child fighters have been captured in recent fighting in Taiz, along the west coast, Marib, and Al-Jawf, the statement said.

The organizations are working in cooperation with the relevant Yemeni government bodies to monitor and document these violations, the statement said.

They are also coordinating with Yemeni, regional, and international entities to ensure that the children receive the necessary care.

The statement reported by Yemen News Agency said the Houthi escalation is exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The groups said the Houthi violations included killings, abductions, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and the blowing up of homes.

They said the group, which controls much of northern Yemen, had blocked roads, attacked civilian vehicles, shelled residential neighborhoods and villages, and attacked health and educational facilities.

The attacks had particularly affected the most vulnerable segments of society, such as children, women, and the elderly.

The statement said the Houthis used a ballistic missile to strike a shelter for displaced people in the Raghwan District of Marib Governorate on Sept. 7.

Two children were killed and 15 people were injured in the attack.

The militia also targeted the “December 2” Hospital in the city of Mokha with a ballistic missile on the same day, the organizations said.

The UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday that at least 125 civilians had been killed or wounded in Yemen since the Houthis launched their offensive.

About 125,000 people have been displaced by the renewed violence.