Renewed Fighting in Yemen Halts Families' Desperate Search for Missing Loved Ones

In Sanaa, Yemen, the search for missing loved ones has been severely hampered by a resurgence of conflict. Munif, an 18-year-old who left his home in 2020 to fight with the Houthis, has not been seen by his family in over six years. He is one of hundreds who have disappeared since the civil war began in September 2014, when the Houthi group, also known as Ansar Allah, seized the capital. Munif's brother, Mohammed, expressed the family's anguish: "A definite answer about his status would be a relief for the entire family." Hopes for clarity were raised by a 2022 truce, but the resumption of fighting in July has stalled efforts. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has received over 1,800 tracing requests since July, but the ongoing conflict prevents families from discovering if their relatives are detained, injured, killed, or simply lost due to displacement.

Mohammed speculates his brother may have been killed in an air strike or captured. The family holds onto the hope of him being held captive, as this would at least provide a definitive answer. "We would have accepted his death, adjusted to the loss, and forgotten my brother’s possible return. We just need to know what happened to him," he stated. The uncertainty is compounded by stories of fighters believed dead who later emerged alive after years of captivity.

The exchange of prisoners of war has been a point of contention, with a UN-backed agreement signed in May to exchange over 1,600 detainees being postponed due to mutual accusations of obstruction. Ahmed, brother of Abdulaziz, a 24-year-old fighting for the Houthis on the front lines in Marib, shared his family's distress. Abdulaziz, who previously called home every 10 days, has been silent for two months amidst intensified fighting in Marib and Al-Jawf. "We are waiting for a phone call from Abdulaziz, and we do not know if he will ever call us," Ahmed said. The family fears Abdulaziz may have been killed in recent government force attacks, but the lack of information from his comrades leaves them in agonizing suspense. "Continued ambiguity is more painful than confirmed news of his death," Ahmed added.

Christine Cipolla, head of the ICRC’s Yemen delegation, emphasized the right of families to know the fate of their missing relatives, stating, "Behind every missing person is a family living in anguish. Their pain cannot be ignored, and their wait must not be prolonged."

Yasser, whose 23-year-old brother Ali joined the Houthis' campaign on the western coast and was reportedly killed in Mocha, shared his family's grief. "So far, we have not received his body, and we do not know where it is," Yasser said. "Recovering his corpse would ease our grief, end our uncertainty, and prove that he is really dead." Yazeed Al-Jeddawy of the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies stressed the need for humanitarian teams to have safe access to all parts of Yemen to document the missing and preserve evidence. He noted that the issue of the missing is a significant failing of the conflict, which has already caused immense loss of life and displacement.

A report by the Yemen-based NGO Mwatana for Human Rights documented at least 1,592 incidents of enforced disappearance involving 2,120 victims between September 2014 and July 2025. The Houthi armed group was found responsible for a significant number of these disappearances, as were forces linked to the internationally-recognised government, the Saudi-led Arab coalition, and the Southern Transitional Council (STC).