A/HRC/42/CRP.1 mainly as a result of air strikes, but also in incidents of shelling, and sniping. The SecretaryGeneral reported that from 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2018, 2,776 children were killed (1,940 boys, 787 girls and 49 children of unspecified sex) and 4,732 children were injured (3,490 boys and 1,242 girls) as a result of the armed conflict in Yemen. 1032 Notably, the majority of the child casualties were attributed to coalition air strikes, followed by Houthis’ actions. 667. In 2016, the coalition forces were delisted by the Secretary-General as one of the parties to the conflict killing and maiming children,1033 ostensibly as a result of some measures taken in 2016 and 2017 to reduce the impact of the conflict on children. This reportedly included changes to their rules of engagement and the establishment of the Joint Incident Assessments Team mandated to review all incidents involving civilian casualties and to identify corrective actions. 668. The Group of Experts regrets that despite the measures mentioned above, the Secretary-General reported an increase in child casualties in Yemen in 2018 compared to 2017.1034 For example, on 9 August 2018, in Dhahyan area market, Majz district, Sa’dah governorate, the coalition struck a bus carrying at least 50 children, all under the age of 14, parked along the highway at the market. The Group verified that the attack killed 11 boys aged 10-15 who were in the bus as well as in the market, and at least two men. In addition, it verified that at least 12 boys were injured. Reports received by the Group, however, indicated a larger number of casualties than the ones verified, including United Nations reports which indicated 39 boys killed and 47 injured. 669. Of particular concern is the widespread use of indirect-fire weapons with wide area impact and the indiscriminate use of landmines, including anti-personnel landmines, and their troubling impact on children.1035 Children’s vulnerabilities and anatomy leave them at higher risk of death following blasts compared to adults and make their rehabilitation much more difficult.1036 Landmine child casualty figures documented in the report of the Secretary-General reportedly amounted to 728 child casualties - 149 killed (123 boys, 26 girls) and 579 injured (478 boys, 101 girls) from 2013 to 2018. 1037 For example, as the Houthi-Saleh fighters were retreating from Aden and Lahij in 2015, they planted landmines in areas previously under their control. On 24 September 2015, in Qubaitah district, Lahij, a 13 year-old child stepped on an anti-personnel landmine, which led to the amputation of his right leg.1038 As in this case, the Group found that in most of the cases where children were injured, the injuries were life-altering, and in many cases required surgery. (For additional information on shelling and landmines incidents, see Chapters on the Battle of Aden, Ta’izz, and al-Hudaydah). 670. Additionally, the Group verified the killing of young children by Houthi-Saleh snipers in Aden in 2015 and by Houthi snipers in Ta’izz in 2019. The Group also received further allegations of snipers causing child casualties in Ta’izz, which were not attributed to any specific party to the conflict. For example, on 30 June 2017, an 8-year-old boy was shot 1032 United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Yemen, 3 June 2019, S/2019/453 (hereinafter ‘UN Secretary-General Report 2019 - S/2019/453), para 33. 1033 United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Yemen, 24 June 2016, A/70/836/Add.1–S/2016/360/Add.1. 1034 Ibid. 1035 The Paediatric Blast Injuries Partnership – a coalition of medics, academics and NGOs, including Save the Children – conducted a review into all the available evidence on paediatric blast injuries. The 2019 study, “Blast Injuries: The impact of explosive weapons on children in conflict”, recommends a child-centric response to the threats of blast injuries as the effects are not the same across age groups. Save the Children, “Blast Injuries”, 2019, available at https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/library/blast-injuries-impact-explosive-weapons-childrenconflict. 1036 Ibid. See also Lt. J.F.S Millwood Hargrave, “The Impact of Blast Injury on Children”, Centre for Blast Injuries Study, Imperial College London, 2017. Available at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/research-centres-and-groups/centre-for-blastinjury-studies/Literature-Review-on-paediatric-blast-injury.pdf. 1037 UN Secretary-General Report 2019 - S/2019/453, para 38. 1038 Confidential Sources on File. 160