Direct proof of use
The 61-K appears in the 2014 Yemen Civil War record through Yemen's inherited anti-aircraft artillery inventory and through reporting on Houthi-held air-defense forces after the Ansar Allah movement took control of large parts of the country. A 2024 survey of Yemeni air defenses before the 2015 Arab Coalition air campaign says Yemen had about 500 self-propelled and towed anti-aircraft guns, including approximately 200 57 mm AZP-57 and 37 mm 61-K guns, and describes those systems in the force structure available over Houthi-controlled territory.
The same survey states that Houthi-controlled small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery was used mainly against personnel and equipment rather than successfully against modern aircraft. Amnesty International separately documented Houthi anti-aircraft munitions fired in Sanaa in March-May 2015, including casualties from anti-aircraft projectiles, while Human Rights Watch observed Houthi vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft weapons deployed in populated areas of Saada City. Those humanitarian investigations support the use and deployment of Houthi anti-aircraft guns in the conflict, but they do not usually identify the exact 37 mm model in each incident.
Sources: TopWar Yemen Air Defense Survey, Amnesty Sanaa Anti-Aircraft Fire, HRW Targeting Saada
Dated milestones
By late 2014 and early 2015, Houthi-aligned forces had gained control of Sanaa and other state military assets. The air-defense survey reports that, as of 2014-2015, Yemen's ground-based air-defense inventory included 37 mm 61-K guns and that several old missile systems and anti-aircraft artillery pieces fell into Houthi hands after Ansar Allah expanded across the country.
After the Saudi-led coalition began air operations on March 26, 2015, Amnesty documented a pattern of anti-aircraft fire in Sanaa. It reported a March 30 projectile strike in Sa'wan, an April 27 fatality in Shumaylah, and additional May incidents attributed by witnesses, doctors, or physical evidence to anti-aircraft fire. Human Rights Watch's May 2015 field investigation in Saada then recorded Houthi vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft weapons in populated parts of the city.
Sources: TopWar Yemen Air Defense Survey, Amnesty Sanaa Anti-Aircraft Fire, HRW Targeting Saada
Use pattern
In Yemen, the 61-K was a legacy short-range anti-aircraft gun, not a newly supplied precision air-defense system. Its documented role is best understood as part of the older gun-based air-defense layer available to Houthi-aligned forces around the start of the coalition air campaign.
Open reporting points to two related uses: short-range air-defense fire against coalition aircraft overhead and secondary ground or area fire from anti-aircraft guns in populated urban settings. Amnesty's Sanaa reporting describes anti-aircraft munitions falling into residential neighborhoods after being fired by the Houthi armed group, and HRW's Saada investigation shows Houthi anti-aircraft guns deployed on vehicles in civilian areas. The cited sources support the presence and use of Houthi anti-aircraft guns, while leaving a model-identification boundary for individual incidents because the projectile and weapon remnants are generally described by class rather than as 61-K-specific evidence.
Sources: TopWar Yemen Air Defense Survey, Amnesty Sanaa Anti-Aircraft Fire, HRW Targeting Saada
