A family withstood even in the gloomiest times of the war, following the outbreak of war in their area in 2015, in the village of Al-Khabashiya, Hairan District, Hajjah Governorate, northwestern Yemen, in light of the father’s inability to move with his children and flee with them to a safe place due to his financial inability. Thus, the family surrender to their fate of remaining in their straw and mud house regardless of the risk. In the beginning of the conflict, Ansar Allah (Houthis) entered and took over the village, then the government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition forces, entered and expelled them in 2019. However, nothing was able to dissuade them from leaving the place.
They endured the scourge of fear while hearing the sounds of bullets, cannons, and missiles, some of which passed over their home and exploded near them, but they were so lucky to survive.
On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at 07:00 in the evening, all family members were in the house, the parents and their three children, and as usual they were having some time together and talking to each other, while the father, Ibrahim Qahmi, 40, who works as a vegetable seller, was lying inside his Arish (a room built of straw and mud), while the rest of the family stayed in the yard of the house.
Then the son, Ali, 10 years old, noticed a pile of dirt sticking out in the yard in an unusual way, as if something was buried beneath it. The curiosity of discovering what was it seized him, so he, with his mother beside him, dug up the dirt and tried to move the body at the bottom with his foot. Suddenly, as soon as his foot stepped on the pile, he heard a deafening sound. The mother suffered burns on her face and hands, while Maryam, 13, had burns on her chest and half of her face on the left side. Ali suffered burns on his left hand, chest, abdomen, and back, while Mohammad, 7, his entire body was burned.
The father went to seek help from his neighbors and friends, and managed to collect an amount of 500 Saudi riyals, which he gave to the solider in charge of the crew in the (military vehicle) so they drove the family member to the boarder Saudi city of Samtah, where the wounded were treated though the father said that they were met with neglect and ill-treatment by the medical staff there
The father came out of the Arish in panic, and saw his family members lying on the ground, stained with their blood, and even part of the straw house was burning. He has been frozen for a moment, not comprehending what had happened, then ran to and fro, confused, paralyzed by the situation. He was completely unable to act and save his afflicted family, so he started screaming for help, perhaps someone would come to help save the family.
After that, a soldier came to the place and asked the father how he could help, so the father begged him to help him to rescue the family members, and the soldier agreed, but he asked the father for the cost of a gallon of petrol for the car, and he accepted. Military car transported them to the village of Al-Jada, in which there was a first aid clinic. However, because the condition of the injured were serious, the clinic advised them to be transferred to the nearest integrated hospital for full medical services.
The father could not do anything, because the military vehicle that brought them to the clinic had turned back, so he had to go to the location of the joint operations forces of the internationally recognized government and the coalition to seek help. He met one of the supervisors there, and asked him for help, but the latter requested the same thing as the first: you have to pay for the cost of the fuel so that we can rescue you. The grieving father replied: You know that I am a vegetable seller and I no longer have anything. The supervisor replied: This is your business!
The father went to seek help from his neighbors and friends, and managed to collect an amount of 500 Saudi riyals, which he gave to the solider in charge of the crew in the (military vehicle) so they drove the family member to the boarder Saudi city of Samtah, where the wounded were treated though the father said that they were met with neglect and ill-treatment by the medical staff there.
After 15 days of medical treatment in Samtah Hospital, and in prison-like isolation, he returned to his village, collected what was left of his belongings, and moved to another nearby village, where some of his relatives who helped him build a new house of straw and mud. The poor father continued selling vegetables to secure his livelihood and his family needs. "We hoped the government forces and the coalition would help, but in the end there is no escape from seeking help from the conflicting parties". Said the father.
