The number of child casualties in Yemen jumped 70% in 2025, and the number of children killed doubled, with an average of one child killed or injured every day1, Save the Children said. The number of children killed doubled in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Analysis of data collected by the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project (CIMP), part of the Protection Cluster in Yemen, suggested that after more than a decade of conflict, the situation was getting even more deadly for children, and the recent escalation of the conflict in southern Yemen risked worsening the situation.
In 2025 at least 103 children were killed and 246 were injured in 2025, compared with 44 fatalities and 161 injuries in 2024.
The increase in child casualties was largely driven by airstrikes which killed or injured at least 155 children. Yet with medical care, rehabilitation, and psychosocial support in the country critically underfunded, many children were unable to access the services they need to recover, Save the Children said.
In September, at least 103 children were among the 427 reported civilian casualties from airstrikes conducted by Israeli forces. On 25 September, airstrikes hit houses near a school, killing or injuring 216 people including 67 children – the highest number of casualties in a single incident.
Explosive weapons shatter families’ lives and leave children with lifechanging injuries. Incidents occurred in children’s homes, farmland and at or on their way to school – highlighting the impact of armed conflict on children’s daily lives.
In May 2025, 13-year-old Nadin* was attending a wedding in her village when artillery shells hit the house where people were celebrating near the frontlines. The attack left her with severe injuries that later resulted in the amputation of her leg. Two of Nadin’s friends were also injured and went to the hospital with her, as well as a 9-month-old boy who underwent surgery to amputate his hand.
Nadin said: “When I woke up from surgery and found out my leg was gone, I cried a lot. I was in shock and kept saying, ‘Give me back my leg, why did you take it?’ But now I thank God that I’m still alive and better off than others who were injured or those who lost their lives.”
Nadin’s father, Mohammed* said: “The worst moment of my life was when the doctors told us that Nadin’s leg had to be amputated. I couldn’t bear it and ran out of the hospital. Signing that consent paper felt impossible. But when the doctors told me that my daughter could die if I hesitated, I signed it with a heart full of pain.”
Now, Nadin hopes to recover and receive a prosthetic leg to help her return to school and complete her exams after she was forced to drop out due to her injury. Save the Children Yemen covered the cost of surgery for Nadin and is providing her with mental health and psychosocial support to help her recover.
Globally, children are seven times more likely to die from blast injuries than adults. A blast injury in a growing child is not a one-time wound, but a lifelong medical challenge, making recovery longer, more complex, and far more costly than for adults. Children experience blast incidents differently due to their smaller body size and increased vulnerability to the blast effects of explosive weapons.
The recent escalation of the conflict in southern Yemen risks worsening the situation for vulnerable civilians and exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis.
Anya Cowley, Save the Children’s Advocacy Director in Yemen, said:
“These figures are a stark reminder of the increasingly deadly impact of the war for children in Yemen. Every day, bombs, landmines and other explosive weapons kill children or cause lifelong disabilities, such as amputations, severe burns, blindness and hearing loss – devastating children’s education, mental health and future livelihoods. Children who lose limbs need prosthetics replaced several times a year as they grow – yet rehabilitation services in Yemen are scarce.
“The scale and brutality of violence affecting children reach far beyond the frontlines and into their homes, schools and hospitals. Alarmingly, a quarter of all child casualties this year were caused by attacks in or near schools – places that should be safe spaces for learning. This rise in child casualties is a result of the failure of the international community to hold governments and armed groups to account for attacks on civilians. The world must not turn away as these violations continue.”
Save the Children calls on parties to the conflict to de-escalate the crisis, stop the use of explosive weapons and uphold international humanitarian law to prevent further harm to civilians.
At the same time, donors must urgently restore and increase funding for victim assistance and risk education initiatives that have been scaled back due to aid cuts. These life-saving efforts are critical to protect vulnerable communities, especially children, from the deadly impact of explosive weapons.
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.
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​Content available here: Save the Children
*All names have been changed to protect the identities of the victims.