January 8: A Day When Crimes of Aggression Against Yemen Are Renewed
January 8 was not merely a passing date on the calendar of aggression. Over years of the American–Saudi–Emirati war, it has become a stark marker of a systematic campaign targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Yemen. On this day, across successive years, airstrikes and shelling repeatedly hit villages, markets, farms, and service institutions—confirming that what occurred were not military “errors,” but a war policy that targeted human life above all else.
Ongoing Crimes: From Shelling to Widespread Destruction
On January 8, 2016, the aggression began the day with a series of airstrikes that killed one civilian and wounded four others in Bani Hushaysh. The attacks expanded to include grazing lands, residential neighborhoods, and educational institutions: the Community College in Sanhan and Bilad Al-Rus was destroyed, warehouses of the Economic Corporation in Hamdan were targeted, and extensive bombardment struck Taiz, Al-Makha, and strategic areas in Marib, reaching neighborhoods within the Capital Secretariat.
On January 8, 2017, the bloodshed continued with martyrs and wounded in Al-Makha and Dhubab, direct targeting of civilian gatherings near water wells, shelling of the telecommunications network in Hajjah, and attacks on homes in the border district of Munabbih—a scene reflecting an expanding target set that encompassed the essentials of daily life.
From Targeting Ports to Killing Shepherds and Women
In 2018, one of the most heinous crimes occurred when the Fisheries Building at Al-Khawbah Port in Hodeidah was bombed, killing five civilians. In the same year, a woman was shot dead by a sniper in Al-Jawf while tending livestock, and areas including Razih, Baqim, Nihm, Haradh, and Midi were subjected to a series of devastating airstrikes.
In 2019, shelling extended to shepherds and their livestock in Bani Bahlul, while Saudi artillery and missile fire intensified against border villages in Sa‘ada, alongside the construction of new military fortifications in Hodeidah—a clear indication of transforming civilian areas into open battlefields.
Escalating Firepower and a War of Attrition Against Civilians
In 2020, Hodeidah witnessed one of the fiercest waves of artillery and missile bombardment, with residential neighborhoods struck by dozens of shells. Villages including Al-Durayhimi, Al-Shajan, and Al-Kuwa‘i came under intensive attacks involving tanks and Katyusha rockets, in parallel with direct Saudi shelling of villages in Shada District.
In 2021, airstrikes continued over Marib, while mercenary forces persisted in shelling areas of Hodeidah with artillery and small arms, expanding combat fortifications around residential zones.
Crimes Against Children and Women
The tragedy peaked on January 8, 2022, when two girls and two women were killed in shelling that struck civilian homes in Wadi Rasyan, Taiz, alongside the killing of a civilian near Sa‘ada city, and intensified airstrikes on farms in Abs and areas of Al-Jawf, Marib, and Shabwah.
In 2023, three civilians were wounded by Saudi artillery fire on Shada and Munabbih, while reconnaissance aircraft continued strikes over Hodeidah, and mercenary forces persisted in building fortifications and shelling civilian areas.
In 2024, remnants of the aggression added a new chapter of pain: two civilians were killed and a third wounded by the explosion of a war remnant in Al-Durayhimi District, underscoring that the effects of these crimes do not end with the strike itself, but pursue civilians for years.
A Long Record of Violations
Day after day, January 8 stands as a living witness to a war that targeted life itself—
schools, ports, farms, roads, homes, and civilian bodies—
a long record of violations that exposes the nature of the aggression as a war of attrition against an unarmed people, not merely a fleeting military confrontation.