Since the UN truce in April 2022, at least 339 children have been killed due to shelling, gunfire, landmines and other explosive remnants of war, while a further 843 have been injured.
ADEN, 1 April 2026 – Almost 1,200 children have been killed or injured due to the ongoing impact of violence in Yemen since a UN truce in April 2022, with the percentage of child casualties due to landmines or other explosives rising, according to a Save the Children analysis.[1]
Since the truce, at least 339 children have been killed due to shelling, gunfire, landmines and other explosive remnants of war, while a further 843 have been injured, some in life-altering ways.[2]
Save the Children’s analysis of data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project also found that 511– nearly one in two - child casualties related to the conflict were due to landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs).[3]
According to the analysis, children were over three times more likely than adults to be killed or injured by explosive remnant of warn Yemen due to a lack of mine risk awareness and increased exposure while engaged in child labour, such as tending livestock and gathering firewood, as well as hazardous work such as construction and scrap metal collection.[4]
The UN-led truce was agreed on 2 April 2022 and, while not formally renewed, it has largely held, resulting in a significant reduction in hostilities. In the past four years, civilian casualties have decreased overall but the percentage of children killed or injured due to landmines or unexploded ordnance has been much higher than in the four years prior to 2022.[5]
In some cases, blast injuries have led to permanent disability due to shrapnel and injuries to the spine alongside amputation of limbs and loss of sight and hearing. Children take longer to recover than adults and experience blast incidents differently due to their smaller body size.
Children also experience significant psychological distress following explosive incidents, including difficulty sleeping alongside daily fear and anxiety.
The latest data from the UN also shows that 22.3 million people, including 12.2 million children, in Yemen are currently in need of aid - an increase of 2.8 million from a year ago.[6] The current escalation in the Middle East and wider region risks exacerbating the humanitarian crisis for vulnerable children and families, pushing up the prices of food and fuel and disrupting supply chains, including the delivery of critical medical supplies.
Kamal*, 6, from Taiz, in southwestern Yemen, was injured in September 2025 when playing with an unexploded war remnant that he found on his way home from school. Kamal sustained multiple shrapnel injuries to his head and leg and suffered significant psychological trauma including regular night terrors.
Kamal’s* father Ahmed*, 50, said:
“I felt shocked and extremely afraid as the explosion happened inside our home. At that moment everyone in the house was terrified.
“After the incident, Kamal began suffering from intense fear. He still wakes up frightened during sleep since the accident. Since the incident he sleeps most of the time and rarely stays awake. He cannot stay up late and prefers to sleep. When I see him in this condition, I worry about him. Since the incident everyone in the house has been afraid. No one expected an explosion inside the house.”
Save the Children supported Kamal* with life-changing surgery, as well as psychosocial support and cash assistance for physical rehabilitation. He is now recovering from his injuries and gradually returning to normal life.
Rishana Haniffa, Save the Children’s Country Director in Yemen, said:
“Four years since the UN-led truce, landmines and unexploded ordnance continue to silently kill and injure children across Yemen. Today, nearly half of all child casualties are caused by these hidden explosives. Explosive weapons, such as landmines, kill and maim children indiscriminately, resulting in life-changing injuries.
These figures are a reminder that beyond the frontlines, the war on children continues in their homes, schools and areas where they play and help their families tend to land.
Amid escalating wider regional tensions, there is a real risk of triggering a wider confrontation in Yemen and the Red Sea that could undermine hard-won progress to reduce armed violence in the country in the past four years, exposing children to even more harm.”
Save the Children calls on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to de-escalate the crisis, end the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and significantly invest in victim assistance and risk education initiatives that have been scaled back due to aid cuts.
In March this year, two children were among at least eight people killed and 30 injured when artillery shells hit an iftar gathering in Hajjah, northern Yemen.[7] The attack was the single most deadly incident for civilians in Yemen so far this year.
Save the Children is also calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the wider region to avert renewed large-scale armed conflict in Yemen that could exacerbate the existing humanitarian crisis.
Save the Children has been working in Yemen since 1963. Child protection remains at the heart of our programmes, including specialised care and assistance for children injured by explosive weapons, including landmines and explosive remnants of war. Since 2022, we have supported 709 children who have suffered blast injuries, including 199 children injured by landmines and UXOs.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] Calculation based off data from 2018- 2022 and 2022 – 2026, using data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project and Save the Children report: Watching Our Every Step: The deadly legacy of explosive ordnance for children in Yemen | Save the Children’s Resource Centre
There were 458 child casualties due to landmines and ERW between 2018-2021, compared with 526 between January 2022- March 2026. Comparing exact four year periods (i.e. all of 2018 – 2021) and April 2022 – March 2026 (511 casualties) is a percentage increase of 12% compared to the 2018-21 period.
[2] Data from the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project (CIMP), a service of the Protection cluster in Yemen between 2 April 2022 and 25 March 2026.
[3] CIMP: 511 of the 1,182 children killed or injured since April 2022 were as a result of ERW, i.e. 43% or almost one in two.
[4] Between April 2022 and 25 March 2026, 511 of 1,182 children killed or injured as a result of armed violence were due to ERWs (43%). Of 6,051 adults killed or injured in the same period, 747 (12%) was a result of ERWs.
[5] Watching Our Every Step: The deadly legacy of explosive ordnance for children in Yemen | Save the Children’s Resource Centre. Approximately 1 in 7 child casualties from 2018 to 2021 was due to ERW compared to almost 1 in 2 (43%) in the past four years from April 2022.
