Direct proof of use
A United Nations Security Council document transmitted by Yemen's Permanent Representative listed repeated Houthi use of ZU-23 guns around Hudaydah governorate in January 2019. The table of reported Stockholm Agreement violations recorded ZU-23 fire at Mujaylis on 4 January, multiple ZU-23 incidents at Tuhayta, Mujaylis, Jabaliyah, and Fazzah on 8 January, and additional Houthi ZU-23 fire at Jah, Durayhimi, Tuhayta, Jabaliyah, and Mujaylis later in the month.
The same UN document identified the firing as direct fire in several entries and named resistance forces, national resistance, the Tuhama 1st Brigade, and other anti-Houthi brigades as the reported targets. A later CEOBS article citing ACLED event data also reported pro-Houthi forces firing ZU-23 cannon shells at civilian houses and farms in At Tuhayta district on 19 June 2020.
Sources: Letter dated 31 January 2019 from the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations, CEOBS Tihamah Agriculture Impact
Timeline
The clearest dated cluster comes immediately after the Stockholm Agreement period for Hudaydah. On 4 January 2019, the UN-transmitted violations table recorded Houthi ZU-23 fire at Mujaylis. On 8 January, it listed four more ZU-23-related entries across Tuhayta, Mujaylis, Jabaliyah, and Fazzah.
Additional entries on 14, 18, 19, 20, 23, and 24 January 2019 placed ZU-23 fire at Jah, Durayhimi, Jabaliyah, Tuhayta, and Mujaylis. The 2020 CEOBS example, drawn from ACLED data, extended reported pro-Houthi ZU-23 shelling to At Tuhayta in the Tihamah agricultural belt.
Sources: Letter dated 31 January 2019 from the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations, CEOBS Tihamah Agriculture Impact
Narrative
In the Yemen record, the ZU-23-2 appears primarily as a ground direct-fire weapon rather than as a documented anti-aircraft system. The UN-transmitted incident log uses the shorter designation ZU-23 and places it alongside 12.7 mm DShK-type weapons, 14.5 mm machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, sniper fire, and light weapons in front-line exchanges.
The documented locations cluster around the Hudaydah front and nearby districts covered by the Stockholm Agreement and Hodeidah Agreement framework. The sources support Houthi-aligned use, repeated direct-fire employment against anti-Houthi resistance or brigade positions in January 2019, and one reported 2020 pro-Houthi shelling incident affecting civilian houses and farms in At Tuhayta.
Sources: Letter dated 31 January 2019 from the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations, OSESGY Stockholm Agreement, CEOBS Tihamah Agriculture Impact
