Aden (South24 Center)

Seven human rights organizations released a joint report titled "The South Under Fire," documenting 801 human rights violations across several provinces in South Yemen from December 2025 to February 2026. The South24 Center obtained a copy of the report on March 23.

The report links these violations to military operations involving Saudi aerial intervention and movements by Yemeni formations opposed to the Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The report stated that violations were concentrated in the provinces of Hadramout, Al-Mahra, Al-Dhalea, and Shabwa. According to the document, these actions followed decisions issued by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Rashad Al-Alimi, requesting direct Saudi military intervention.

According to the findings, these operations resulted in the deaths of 133 people, including 113 personnel from the Southern Forces and 20 civilians, among them women and children. Additionally, 457 individuals were injured, including 126 civilians, with some cases involving amputations and permanent disabilities.

The organizations also recorded damage to 62 civilian facilities, including ports, airports, schools, and medical centers. Furthermore, three ambulances were targeted while evacuating the wounded.

The report also documented 54 cases of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance targeting activists, journalists, and children during the monitoring period.

The report highlighted several incidents described as representing grave violations of International Humanitarian Law, including the shelling of the civilian Mukalla Port on December 30, 2025, and the targeting of a civilian facility in the Najd Zubaid area of Al-Dhalea governorate on January 7, 2026, which resulted in the death of three civilians and the injury of 24 others.

In Shabwa, the report documented the killing of six civilians and the wounding of 30 others by security forces' gunfire during the dispersal of grassroots protests on February 11. Meanwhile, it pointed to the killing of one civilian and the injury of 23 others in front of the Maasheeq Palace in Aden on February 20, including a four-year-old child.

The report added that military operations weakened the counter-terrorism units belonging to the Southern Forces, particularly the Bareshid Brigade in Hadramout, which it stated was subjected to more than 25 airstrikes. This created a security vacuum exploited by armed elements, including members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), to resurface in certain areas.

It also pointed to what it described as a collapse in the rule of law, manifested—according to the report—in the looting of airports and military camps, the imposition of forced levies, the storming of courts, and the threatening of judges. It further mentioned that Riyadh-backed forces captured 92 members of the Southern Forces at the Al-Adwas camp in the Ghayl Ba Wazir district of Hadramout.

The seven organizations concluded that the pattern of targeting civilians and civilian facilities may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, calling on the Security Council and UN mechanisms to form an independent international commission of inquiry to hold those responsible accountable and prevent their impunity.

In a related context, the Special Representative of the STC President for Foreign Affairs, Amr Al-Bidh, discussed in Geneva with the Ambassador of Liechtenstein and the Yemen desk officer at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) the developments of the humanitarian situation and violations in the South, as well as ways to enhance monitoring, documentation, and cooperation with international bodies, according to separate statements issued by the STC's Foreign Affairs department.

Previously, the International Organization for the Least Developed Countries (IOLDC) informed the Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 3 that Saudi Arabia had taken coercive measures in South Yemen, calling for the formation of an international commission of inquiry.

On March 11, the organization further warned the Security Council of the renewed growth of terrorist group activities in South Yemen.

 Read more at: Human Rights Watch: Excessive Force Used Against Pro-STC Protesters in South Yemen