Direct proof of use
Conflict Armament Research documented improvised explosive devices and related mine materiel recovered from Houthi forces on Yemen's west coast. CAR reported that Houthi forces employed significant numbers of landmines and IEDs against Arab Coalition forces, and that recovered materiel included improvised mines, IED main charges, complete IEDs, pressure plates, radio-control components, and synthetic-rock-concealed devices.
The United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen separately reported that Houthi forces used landmines and improvised explosive devices in an endemic and systematic pattern. Its 2022 report documented IEDs concealed as rocks and palm trunks, booby traps, pressure plates, crush wires, passive infrared sensors, old aviation bombs used as IEDs in civilian areas, and water-borne improvised explosive devices used in Red Sea attacks.
Sources: CAR Mines and IEDs Yemen West Coast, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen S/2022/50
Timeline
Human Rights Watch documented Houthi-Saleh landmine use in Aden, Sanaa, Marib, Taizz, and other areas in 2015 and 2016, and reported that the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center cleared improvised mines on civilian roads near Mokha in February 2017 after Houthi-Saleh forces withdrew. CAR's later field reporting placed synthetic-rock-concealed IEDs along roads connecting Mokha, Dhubab, Taizz, and Hodeidah from late 2016 onward.
On January 30, 2017, an explosive-filled surface vessel struck the Royal Saudi Naval Forces frigate Al-Madinah near Al Hudaydah. CAR analyzed a separate water-borne improvised explosive device documented in March 2017 and concluded that the device originated in Yemen, was modified with external components and expertise, and was deployed by Houthi forces. In 2020 and 2021, the UN Panel recorded later WBIED attacks against Saudi port and energy targets, including Jeddah and Yanbu.
Sources: HRW Houthi-Saleh Forces Using Landmines, CAR Mines and IEDs Yemen West Coast, CAR Anatomy of a Drone Boat, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen S/2022/50
Narrative
The documented Yemen role was not a single IED pattern. On land, sources describe roadside and area-denial devices, improvised mines, rock-concealed RCIEDs, booby traps, pressure-plate devices, and aviation bombs reused as explosive devices. CAR described many west-coast improvised mines and IED components as standardized or mass-produced by Houthi forces, while the UN Panel recorded clearance of thousands of IEDs and UXO in affected governorates.
The main documented user in the broad conflict-use record is Houthi-aligned forces. HRW also reported AQAP use of landmines, particularly improvised mines, after coalition-backed forces captured Mukalla in 2016, but the open-source detail for this page is strongest for Houthi-aligned use on the west coast, in Hodeidah and Taizz governorates, around Mokha, and in Red Sea maritime attacks.
The sources separate battlefield use from supply attribution. CAR assessed some RCIED electronics, switches, and components as originating in Iran or sharing supply pathways with Iranian-linked materiel, and the UN Panel described foreign-sourced commercial components in Houthi-controlled assembly. Those findings support component and supply-chain context; the direct-use claim rests on recovered devices, field investigations, clearance records, and documented attacks in Yemen and adjacent Red Sea operations.
Sources: CAR Mines and IEDs Yemen West Coast, UN Panel of Experts on Yemen S/2022/50, HRW Houthi-Saleh Forces Using Landmines, CAR Anatomy of a Drone Boat
