Incident Summary

Incident: Bombing civilian houses in Radaa
Type: House bombing
Location: Al-Hafra neighborhood in Radaa city centre, Al-Bayda Governorate
Date: 19 March 2024
Time: between 07:25 and 08:02 am
Victims: 9 killed, 9 injured
Damage: 8 houses destroyed, 17 houses damaged
Responsibility for the bombing: possibly Ansar Allah Houthi group

Introduction

On the morning of 19 March 2024, Radaa city, northwest of Al-Bayda Governorate was struck by a resounding incident in Al-Hafra neighborhood, which is the bombing of civilian houses by a security campaign affiliated with the Houthis, which resulted in the death and injury of civilians because of the collapse of a number of houses on top on their inhabitants.

Methodology

Yemeni Archive investigated the incident based on:

Collecting, preserving and analyzing 80 sources containing video, images and reports, published on social media platforms, showing information and visual content at the moment of the attack and the context of its occurrence.
Determining the impact location through the information available about the explosion area in the reports related to the incident, the written description of the area, and the features that appeared in the visual content at the moment of the explosion, during the recovery of the victims, and after, and matching them with satellite images.
Determining the time of the attack through shadow analysis, first reports of the incident, and testimonies in reports related to the incident.
Examining the allegations and nature of responsibility for the incident, contrary to the official story announced by the Houthis, by tracking the use of the pattern of bombing houses in other incidents in Al-Bayda Governorate and the measures taken considering the presence of the same security authorities, in addition to ensuring that measures are taken against those who were considered directly responsible for the incident.
Examining official and other reports and data that reported the numbers of civilian casualties in the incident and matching them with more than one source to verify the accuracy of the information.

About the location

Al-Hafra neighborhood is located in Radaa city centre, in Radaa District, west of Al-Bayda Governorate in central Yemen, near the administrative borders of Dhamar Governorate. The neighborhood is located next to the historic Radaa Castle, and consists of several old-style buildings built of mud and wood.

Ansar Allah Houthi forces currently control Al-Bayda Governorate and all its districts. Previously, there were confrontation lines with government forces and the resistance in some districts on the outskirts of the governorate, but the Houthis took full control of them in September 2021.

The Houthis took control of the city of Radaa, the center of the district, early in the war before March 2015, in addition to most of Al-Bayda Governorate, despite confrontations in limited areas with tribes and Al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda in Yemen has had a strong presence in Radaa District since the beginning of 2012, and it fought with government forces in 2012 and 2013. With the Houthis taking control of Sanaa and expanding towards Al-Bayda, Qaeda participated with the tribes in the fighting in the first days. With the fall of the city, some pockets of Al-Qaeda remained in the mountainous areas of Qayfa region, north of the district, until August 2020, after the Houthis took control of all areas in Radaa.

Despite this, Radaa District was subject to repeated military confrontations between the Houthis and the tribes, the most recent of which was in the villages of Khabza in Al Qayfa region, north of Radaa, in July 2022, after security forces besieged the villages on allegations of searching for wanted tribesmen.

Satellite image from Google Earth. Approximate blue borders were created for the city of Radaa, the center of the district, and inside it a square with yellow borders for Al-Hafra neighborhood.

What happened

On the morning of 19 March 2024, users on social media platforms reported that Houthi security forces bombed civilian homes in Al-Hafra neighborhood in the city of Radaa, west of Al-Bayda Governorate, resulting in several homes falling and collapsing on their residents, resulting in a number of civilian casualties, including children and women.

Videos circulated on social media platforms showed the recovery of citizens from the rubble of homes, ambulance operations, and various scenes from the accident site. In addition to the video of the moment the houses were bombed, which shows soldiers in camouflage military uniform standing next to a homemade military armored vehicle, repeating the Houthi shout after the bombing.

A screenshot of a post from a Facebook account that included a group of different widely circulated videos of the house bombing incident in Radaa. The source was relied upon to avoid multiple sources that published the same content separately. The link was deleted or the post was hidden by its owner, but the post was archived by Yemeni Archive and is available in another post in the account.

The incident context

The causes of the incident go back to June 2023. According to a Facebook post published by the account of Rasd Center for Rights and Development, a Houthi supervisor called Abu Hussein Al-Harman, accompanied by a number of armed men, opened fire on the night of June 25, 2023, at a young man named Ibrahim Al-Zayla’i and his brother, who worked in selling khat, killing the first and seriously wounding the second due to non-payment of taxes, according to the post.

A screenshot of a post from Rasd Center for Rights and Development’s Facebook account, published on June 26, 2023, a year ago, revealing details of a murder in the city of Rada’a carried out by a Houthi security supervisor that led to the death of Saif Ibrahim al-Zayla’i and the injury of his brother.

Two days after al-Zayla’i was killed, Madfa’ Jahannam account reported in a Facebook group called “Internal Problems of the People of Rada’a” that there had been previous complaints and grievances filed against the so-called al-Harman that had not received any response from what it called the de facto authority.

A screenshot of a post dated June 27, 2023 in a public group for Rada’a people by an account explaining that leaders in the region had previously filed complaints and grievances against the security supervisor, but that these demands had not received any response from the Houthi authorities. Following the incident in Rada'a people Facebook group, an account published several posts since the day of the incident, demanding that the local and security authorities in the city arrest the accused, but it seems that the case did not receive an official response according to the posts. On the contrary, the so-called Al-Harman launched military campaigns on Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada'a on December 17, 2023, according to the account.

Screenshots of posts from a Facebook account in Rada'a internal problems alternative group. The posts include demands and complaints about the authorities' failure to respond to taking action regarding Al-Zaylai killing incident, indicating that a military campaign was directed at the Al-Hafrah neighborhood instead of providing justice to the victims. The posts disappeared due to the group being converted from public to private, but the archive has an archived copy of them.

On March 21, a Facebook account published three surveillance camera videos showing an ambush set up by Al-Zaylai's brother for a Houthi police patrol on the evening of March 18, a day before the incident. At 04:50 am on March 19, Alaji account on X indicated that Al-Harman was killed.

A screenshot of a video posted on a Facebook account with surveillance camera documentation of the moment a person named Al-Zayla’i targeted a security patrol affiliated with the Houthis in the city of Rada’a, which led to the death of the security supervisor named Al-Harman, who is accused of killing Al-Zayla’i’s brother on the evening of March 18, 2024.

A screenshot of a post on X by an account confirming the killing of Al-Harman hours after the incident in Rada’a, in addition to four others of his companions, at the hands of one of the young men of Al-Zayla’i family.

A few hours later, news circulated on social media platforms about bombing of Al-Zayla’i’s house in Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada’a, which resulted in civilian casualties.

A screenshot of the first reports on X on the morning of March 18, 2024, regarding the Houthi bombing of houses in the city of Rada’a belonging to Al-Zayla’i family.

Location of damaged houses:

The Ijaz Network account on X provided initial details of the incident site as old homes in Al-Hafrah neighborhood in the city of Rada’a, west of Al-Bayda Governorate. Searching Google Maps data made it easier to locate the neighborhood, which helped to determine a geographic range to search for the exact location of the bombing within a specific range.

A screenshot of the Ijaz Network account’s post on X on March 19, 2024, indicating the Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada’a as the location of the incident.

The search result for Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada’a via Google Maps, which identified an area in the center of the city.

The Houthi-affiliated Yemeni News Agency, Saba, published footage of a committee’s visit to the incident site in the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in Rada’a, including visual details of the neighborhood that were matched with one of the videos filmed while treating victims. When compared with Google Earth satellite images of Al-Hofrah neighborhood, the filming site appears to be located at coordinates 14.416305, 44.841719, and although the footage does not show the location of the destroyed homes, it provided search points close to the likely location.

Matching scenes from a video of the Houthi-affiliated Yemeni news agency Saba during a visit to the affected neighborhood, with a video posted on Facebook of the moment victims were removed and retrieved from an alley near the explosion site.

Matching previous video footage from Saba and a video from a Facebook account with satellite images from Google Earth taken in April 2023 in the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in Rada'a.

In addition to the previous video during the treatment of victims, there is a video documenting the same moment from another angle that was posted in a group of videos on a Facebook account. Scenes from the two clips show paramedics exiting an alley to the east, with people gathering in the corridor that appeared opposite the committee's parking spot.

Screenshots from a video posted on a Facebook account, showing a citizen exiting from the eastern direction of the alley carrying one of the victims in his hands, with the arrow indicating the exit location.

A video shot of the same scene of treating one of the victims in the previous shot from another angle showing the direction of the paramedics exiting east of the alley as shown in Google Earth satellite images from the same area.

Video analysis of the moment of the explosion shows soldiers standing next to an armored military vehicle, buildings of various sizes, an iron water tank opposite the photographer, and a white passenger bus next to him. When matching the visible landmarks with satellite images from Google Earth, it becomes clear that the soldiers are standing on the other side of the alley at coordinates 14.416888, 44.842175, and the direction of the smoke from the explosion confirms that the damaged houses are located to the east of the alley.

Panoramic screenshots from a video posted by a user on X on the day of the incident show some landmarks where soldiers and an armored military vehicle were standing in the neighborhood at the moment of the explosion.

A satellite image from Google Earth taken in August 2022 shows the location of the security forces standing in the alley according to matching the landmarks that appeared in the video at the moment of the explosion.

Thus, the search range for damaged houses in Al-Hafrah neighborhood is narrowed. To get closer to the location of the houses, the length and direction of the shadows that appear in the scenes of searching through the rubble published by a Facebook account contributed to identifying the location of the distinctive building that appears in the video south of the destroyed houses at coordinates 14.416014, 44.841942. After matching the house with satellite images from Google Earth, and since the house is located directly opposite the damaged houses, a search area and path were formed in a more specific square.

Video screenshots from the site of the destroyed houses while searching through the rubble show a distinctive building next to the mud buildings, and also show the direction of the shadow and the location of the sun, which made it easier to know the possible direction of the house.

Screenshot of the Sun Calc shadow analysis tool showing the direction and length of the shadow as it appeared in the video while searching through the rubble.

Screenshot from the video of searching through the rubble, with a satellite image from Google Earth showing the direction of the sun in the possible square marked in blue, while the orange dots show the previous locations that were identified, which narrowed the scope of the exact location to a small area.

One of the people present at the scene documents the gathering of citizens near the rubble from above, while another video documents the site from the opposite direction, showing the shadows of the people, creating two views from two directions of the gathering site. When forming a panoramic image of the site from a third video of the adjacent houses and the space in which they are standing, which contains a small room, it can be confirmed that the destroyed houses are located at coordinates 14.416488, 44.842291 in the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in the center of Rada'a city.

Screenshots from two videos documenting the same scene from above and below, showing the direction of the shadow and the gathering of citizens in the area, and the upper shot shows an iron water tank near the destroyed houses.

Another video clip moved the filming to the side and showed the features of the area adjacent to the destroyed houses, showing iron sheets next to two houses with a distinct partition between them, and opposite it also two houses with the same partition (a mud wall covering the alley) next to a small room behind the space in which the photographer is standing.

Satellite image from Google Earth taken in April 2023, showing the location of the destroyed houses and the surrounding landmarks as shown in the videos from several angles.

Time of the explosion:

Journalist Fares Alhemyari indicated in a post on X that Houthi security forces consisting of military vehicles and armored vehicles arrived in the Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada'a at around 7:00 a.m. on March 19, 2024 "to pursue a wanted security member of the group."

Screenshot of journalist Fares Alhemyari's post on X on the day of the incident, in which he reported that Houthi security forces arrived at the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in Rada'a at around 7:00 a.m.

Analysis of the position of the sun and the length of the direction of the shadow of the buildings in the alley extending towards other nearby buildings, in a video posted by Sami Noman on X at the time of the explosion according to the Suncalc tool, indicates that the time at that moment ranged between 07:25 and 07:45 a.m.

A screenshot from a video posted by an account on X showing the shadow of the building extending over other buildings at the time of the explosion of the houses.

Possible shadow analysis of two buildings in the area suggests that the extended shadow of one of them is likely due to their close proximity, with the shadow indicating that the time of the explosion was between 07:25 - 07:44 AM.

Following the initial reports of the incident on social media platforms, we find that a post by an account on X was among the first published reports of a house bombing in the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in Radaa, at 08:02 AM on March 19, 2024, according to local time.

A screenshot of a post by an account on X is among the first reports of the incident according to the timestamp analysis of the post.

According to the shadow analysis in the videos of the moment of the explosion and press information, the first report of the incident on social media platforms at the time of the explosion is likely to be between 07:25 and 08:02 AM on March 19, 2024.

Possible Responsibility:

The Houthi-affiliated Ministry of Interior published a statement hours after news of the bombing was widely circulated on social media platforms on March 19, 2024, attributed to the ministry’s spokesman, expressing regret for what it described as a painful incident that resulted in the deaths of a number of security personnel and citizens, noting that the incident occurred as a result of a mistake by security personnel during the implementation of a security campaign.

A news item was published on the Houthi-affiliated Ministry of Interior website commenting on the bombing incident on the same day, March 19, where the spokesman for the interior stated that the incident occurred as a result of a mistake.

The day after the incident, March 20, the Houthi-affiliated Yemeni Security Media account on X published details of a visit by a committee assigned by the Houthi leader to visit the families of the victims. The committee’s chairman stated that the Ministry of Interior had taken measures against those responsible for the incident, including dismissing the security director of Al Bayda Governorate and a number of security officials, describing their actions as individual.

A post by the Houthi-affiliated Yemeni Security Media account on X explains that the Houthi authorities took action against officials responsible for the incident and proceeded to dismiss a number of them, including the security director of Al Bayda Governorate.

Houthi leader Abdulmalik Al Houthi appeared in a video published by the media center on X on March 21, speaking about the incident in Rada’a, and said that the security response in Al Bayda to the incident of killing security men by assault and illegal action by blowing up a house is an individual act that does not reflect the group, stressing that he directed the authorities affiliated with them to take measures and compensate those affected.

With the statements and positions issued by the Houthis regarding the incident and describing it as an individual act, journalists and activists opposed to the group circulated video clips showing house bombings carried out by the Houthis in different areas of Yemen, including Al Bayda Governorate.

Incidents of house bombings in Al Bayda

During 2021, houses were bombed in Al Zaher District, and the closest of these houses in terms of location, time and form, was the bombing of two houses that sources said belonged to expatriates outside Yemen in the Al-Zub area in Al-Quraishiyah District adjacent to Rada’a on September 4, 2020, after a security campaign launched by the Houthis to the village due to a dispute with tribesmen.

A video showing the moment of the bombing of houses in Al-Zub village, published by Muhammad Al-Riyami on X in 2024, matches a photo published during the incident in September 2020. By analyzing the scenes, the location of the damaged houses can be determined at coordinates 14°29'58.0"N 44°49'29.0"E in Al-Quraishiyah District, west of Al Bayda.

A panoramic screenshot from a video showing the moment a house was blown up in the village of Al-Zub, Qifah area, Al-Bayda Governorate.

Photos were also published on September 7, 2020, from Zaid Al-Shalif's account on X, showing security vehicles that were burned after clashes between the villagers and the security forces. A burned security vehicle that was also present in the video at the moment of the explosion appears camouflaged in colors used by the special forces, which is the uniform of one of the soldiers present at the time of the house bombing.

A search for the security figures appointed by the Houthis to the position of Director of Security of Al-Bayda Governorate during the period of the house bombing in the Al-Zub area in September 2020 reveals that he is Brigadier General Abdullah Al-Arabji, the same security director who was dismissed by the Houthis due to the house bombing in Rada'a.

The soldiers who appeared in the videos in the two incidents (Al-Zub and Al-Hofrah) are wearing security forces uniforms that are also worn by the security units and leaders in Al-Bayda Governorate, according to the photos published by the Houthi-affiliated Yemeni News Agency, Saba.

Another bombing incident took place on July 25, 2021, in Al Zaher District, west of Al Bayda Governorate, at the home of one of the sons of Al Humaiqan, after the Houthis took control of the area following military confrontations with the Al Humaiqan resistance.

Social media platforms circulated visual content of the moment the house was bombed and pictures of it before and after the bombing. When tracking the information indicating the location of the house and comparing the landmarks that appeared in the video clip with archival satellite images before and after the bombing via Google Earth, the location of the house can be determined at coordinates 13.943170, 45.392745.

In addition to the pattern followed by the Houthis in bombing houses, and when tracking the progress of the procedures against the main defendants in the Rada'a bombing incident who were referred to the judiciary according to the Houthi statement after the incident, it became clear that the first official, the dismissed Director of Security of Al Bayda Governorate, is free in Sana'a.

A Facebook account was published that appears, through its continuous coverage of the news and movements of Brigadier General Abdullah Al Arabji, the dismissed Director of Security of Al Bayda, to be one of his close associates. On May 10, 2024, less than two months after the incident, a photo was posted on his account showing Al-Arabji in civilian clothes carrying his personal weapon in Al-Sab’een Square in Sana’a while participating in the Houthi crowds on Friday.

The damage

Musawah for Human Rights and Freedoms reported in a statement about the incident that the bombing in Al-Hafrah neighborhood resulted in the destruction of 8 homes, including two belonging to the Al-Zayla’i family and six homes belonging to different families. According to the Minister of Information in the internationally recognized Yemeni government, the bombing occurred in two homes belonging to the Al-Zayla’i and Al-Naqous families, which led to the destruction of other neighboring homes.

According to Musawah, the eight homes are:

Mohammed Al-Yarimi’s home
2 homes belonging to Ibrahim Al-Zayla’i
Alawi Al-Mujaher’s home
Al-Naqous family home
Ahmed Khalbi’s home
Saleh Hadi’s home
Al-Faqih family home.

By forming panoramic images from the visual content of the rubble site in Aman Afash’s video posted on Facebook, the area severely damaged by the bombing is approximately 350 square meters, and includes several adjacent houses. It is difficult to determine which of them is a separate house through satellite images from Google Earth.

While the total number of damaged houses is approximately 17 according to official information announced by the Houthis in their media outlets, via Yemen TV and the Yemeni News Agency Saba (Houthi version) on Telegram, during what they described as the launch of the process of delivering financial aid to those affected in the Al-Hofrah neighborhood in Rada’a.

The statement of Musawah Organization indicated the complete destruction of eight houses, which is supported by the analysis of the visual content, in addition to the statements of the Houthi-appointed governor of Al-Bayda in the video of Yemen TV in its Houthi version, who said that the compensation for the damage targeted the owners of 17 of the partially damaged houses, so the total damage resulting from the bombing is the complete destruction of 8 houses, and the damage to 17 other houses in the neighborhood.

Victims

According to the statement of the funeral of the victims published on Facebook, the number of people killed in the explosion reached nine people from one family, including children and women, and nine others from other families were injured, according to a statement by Musawah for Human Rights and Freedoms.

Killed:

1. Father, Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (65 years old)

2. Mother, Sayyida Al-Yarimi (50 years old)

3. Saad Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (33 years old)

4. Ali Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (22 years old)

5. Jabali Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (18 years old)

6. Ramzi Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (15 years old)

7. Mabrouka Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi (19 years old)

8. Karima Ahmed Al-Adadi

9. Akram Ibrahim Muhammad Saad Al-Yarimi

Conclusion

Based on the information provided above, Yemeni Archive concluded that security forces affiliated with the Houthi Ansar Allah forces blew up two houses in Al-Hafrah neighborhood in Rada'a district in Al-Bayda governorate in a residential area with a popular architectural style built of mud and wood, which resulted in the complete destruction of 8 houses and the damage of 17 others, and 9 civilians were killed, including women and children, and 9 others were injured.

The Houthis acknowledged the incident, describing it as an individual act and a mistake, taking measures against the security officials in the governorate and referring them to the judiciary, but information received more than a month after the bombing revealed that Brigadier General Abdullah Al-Arabji, the dismissed director of security of the governorate, who was considered the first person responsible for the incident, is free in Sanaa.

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Bombing civilian houses in Radaa

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