UN Warns Civilians Suffer Most as Yemen Conflict Escalates Sharply

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights chief warned Thursday that civilians are absorbing the heaviest toll from a sharp escalation in Yemen’s civil war, as fighting intensifies between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

The renewed violence represents the most significant flare-up since a 2022 truce largely froze the conflict. In recent weeks, hostilities have reignited along former front lines, particularly around Taiz, where Houthi forces have advanced south along the Red Sea coast. The offensive has triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 130,000 people and driving some to flee across the Red Sea to Africa.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said his office has documented the deaths of 32 civilians — including 15 children and three women — since August, resulting from fighting that includes drone and missile strikes. A total of 125 civilians have been recorded as killed or wounded in the latest flare-up.

“Civilians are now bearing the brunt of this latest upsurge in fighting,” Türk stated, though his office did not attribute responsibility for the casualties to either side.

The UN rights office also documented three attacks by Ansar Allah — the formal name for the Houthi movement — on sites housing internally displaced people since August. It remains unclear whether casualties from those incidents are included in the overall toll.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam rejected the UN’s findings, accusing the rights office of partiality and alleging it has ignored Saudi bombardment targeting public facilities. He cited strikes on a correctional facility in al-Hazm, al-Jawf province, as well as homes and schools in multiple areas, calling the UN allegations “false and unsupported by evidence.”

Türk also drew attention to the detention of more than 70 UN staff members by Houthi authorities, some held for years, and called for their immediate release. He urged all warring parties to uphold their obligations to protect civilians.

Saudi officials have consistently maintained that their forces do not target civilians in Yemen. The Saudi diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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