MOKHA: To children in the village of Al-Thoubani, north of Yemen’s western port city of Mokha, the sound of a drone overhead has become a source of fear that follows them even inside their homes.
Anas Mohammed Daoud and Mahdi Mohammed Youssef were among a group children gathered together in the village on Aug. 16 when the buzzing sound of a Houthi drone was followed by an explosion.
At first, the boys said, they did not understand what had happened as they found themselves lying on the ground, bleeding. Residents quickly took them to a local health center for treatment.
Now, any time they hear the sound of a drone they associate it with the attack, and both prefer to remain indoors rather than go out and risk being hurt again.
Their experience is not an isolated case.
In a separate incident in the same village, Layan Mohammed Mahmoud was walking with her sister, Ghadeer, to a grocery store when a Houthi drone attack injured Layan’s left leg. Ghadeer was not physically hurt but suffered a severe panic attack. Layan said she was now frightened by the sound of drones even inside her home.
“I run to the storage room,” she said, describing how she hides whenever she hears the buzz of a drone overhead. She no longer ventures out onto village streets or goes to the grocery store, fearing a repeat of the attack.
At the village’s small health center, Dr. Khaled Bajash said he still remembers the aftermath of the attack in which Anas and Mahdi were injured.
“They arrived with blood covering their bodies,” he said. He provided first aid to stop the bleeding and the boys were transferred to the 2 December Hospital in Mokha for urgent treatment.
Anas’ father, Mohammed Daoud, said the attack that hurt his son was the latest incident in years of displacement and uncertainty for his family.
“I am displaced, from one displacement to another,” he said, adding that he was worried his family might be forced to move yet again in search of a safer place away from the fighting.
Mohammed Issa Musa Ahmed has been living in a makeshift shelter in the village for eight years after fleeing Hodeidah. He said attacks, and even just the sound of drones, deprive residents of any sense of safety or stability.
The prospect of further displacement weighs on him, he added, as people continue live with the constant fear of further attacks. Such incidents have a wider effects beyond any immediate injuries, as children struggle with the fear they generate, and parents are increasingly reluctant to allow youngsters to move freely around the village.
And Al-Thoubani is just one of several communities along Yemen’s western coast in which residents live with not only with the constant threat of Houthi drone attacks, but also psychological consequences that endure long after the sound of the explosions fade.
