Direct proof of use
The clearest source-backed case for 120 mm mortar-launcher use in the 2014 Yemen Civil War is the 2 August 2018 shelling in al-Hawak district, al-Hudaydah. The UN Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen reported that three mortar shells landed on the main fish market, followed shortly afterward by two shells at the entrance to al-Thawrah Hospital and another on the roof of the hospital records room. The same UN report assessed that the weapon used appeared to be a 120 mm mortar.
The UN investigators assessed crater evidence near the hospital as indicating fire from the south and considered it probable that the mortars came from the airport area, where Yemeni armed forces and UAE-backed groups were based. The report also noted that both coalition-aligned forces and Houthi fighters had 120 mm mortars in their arsenals, and it did not make a definitive perpetrator attribution.
Sources: OHCHR Yemen 2018 Hodeidah shelling report
Dated incident
The attack took place at about 16:00 on 2 August 2018 during the battle for al-Hudaydah. The UN report recorded at least 41 civilians killed, including six children and four women, and 111 civilians injured, including 19 children and three women, across the fish-market and hospital strikes.
Physicians for Human Rights and Mwatana for Human Rights documented the same hospital incident as a mortar attack, reporting that al-Thawra Hospital was hit by three mortars at approximately 16:45 after civilians wounded at the harbor were arriving for treatment. Their account described one mortar landing at the hospital's eastern gate, another on the hospital archive department, and a third about 200 meters north of the hospital entrance.
Sources: OHCHR Yemen 2018 Hodeidah shelling report, PHR Mwatana Attacks on Health Care
Evidence and attribution
Bellingcat's open-source review of video, imagery, craters, and munition remnants found that the attack was likely a mortar strike rather than an airstrike. It assessed the direction of origin as south of the hospital and identified tail fins that strongly suggested a large-caliber mortar, likely 120 mm, with characteristics similar to Rheinmetall Denel Munition mortar bombs.
PHR and Mwatana summarized Bellingcat and UN Panel of Experts findings as separately determining that the attacks were most likely carried out with 120 mm mortars. Their report stated that the munition type and direction of attack pointed toward coalition forces, but also noted that neither Bellingcat nor the UN Panel could positively attribute responsibility because Houthi forces could have acquired such ordnance through recovery or illicit channels.
Sources: Bellingcat Hodeidah Hospital Analysis, PHR Mwatana Attacks on Health Care, OHCHR Yemen 2018 Hodeidah shelling report
