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Sanaa: A city of broken glass and shattered hope

Yemen has become an extremely dangerous place to live in.

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'No matter how much I try to memorise, with every explosion, every word slips away,' said Waleed, a pharmaceutical student living in Sanaa. Waleed studies with the sound of air strikes and the light of a propane lantern. Examinations took place on September 15, despite universities having been closed since the start of the war. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
By Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbari
Published On 8 Oct 2015

Sanaa, Yemen –  After a long day of selling chives and vegetables at the local market, Hafith Allah Al-Ayani, returned to his humble home in the historic quarter of Al-Felayhi in the Old City of Sanaa.

As he ate what would soon become his last meal with his family, an air strike hit and everything was destroyed. Al-Ayani, his wife, and their eight children all died during the midnight attack. 

Neighbours spent up to eight hours digging out one lifeless body after another. A piece of bread was still in the mouth of Al-Ayani’s eight-year-old son when his body was dug from underneath the rubble.

Six months of war in Yemen has left the country in ruins, divided by an intricate multisided conflict. In March 2015, a coalition of Arab states led by the Saudi Arabia began a military bombing campaign in Yemen.

The civilian death toll is rising, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordiantion of Humanitarian Affairs, approximately 5,248 people have been killed, and over 26,000 people have been injured since the start of the war. 

In Sanaa, a city of broken glass and shattered hope, hearing the thunderous roar of air strikes has become a daily norm. Schools have been closed since the war started in March, but after five months of putting education on hold, last month, high schools and universities sat for examinations while air strikes played in the background. 

Famine and hunger threaten to take more lives than bullets and missiles; but the heavily imposed blockades mean very little has been trickling into the country, which imports 90 percent of its supplies – driving the humanitarian situation into further chaos. 

There is no fuel, no electricity – the entire city is paralysed. The governmental was already fragile, and now, the health institutions are collapsing because of the increase in civilians targeted – civilians like Al-Ayani and his family of ten. Yemen has become an extremely dangerous place to live in.

Plagued by death and destruction, Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, continues to be bombed with no end in sight, yet ordinary civilians are paying the grave cost for this war. 

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A young boy holds remnants of a missile that exploded in his neighbourhood. Over 100 pieces have been found in the Old City of Sanaa. Every air strike is now an opportunity for children to collect shrapnel and sell it per kilogram. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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The Old City of Sanaa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but its buildings and its residents are now under threat. According to heritage preservation architects, when an air strike targeted the home of a farmer, over 130 homes were also damaged. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Mafraj lies in ruins - this was once the traditional living room of the Al-Amer family. Their neighbour's home was hit during an air strike, killing eleven people. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Al-Amer and his children survey the damage in their home, which is located in Al-Fulayhi, a densely populated area situated in the heart of the Old City of Sanaa. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Al-Amer children look out to see the destruction of their neighbourhood caused by the midnight strike. An estimated 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes due to escalating conflict. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Family members of Hafith Allah Al-Ayani dig the graves of their 11 deceased, seven of whom were children. They died during a midnight air strike in their home in Al-Faleyhi district of Sanaa. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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A young boy sits down during a march celebrating a year since the Houthi takeover of Sanaa in September 2014. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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On August 21, Houthi supporters marched into Sanaa protesting the removal of fuel subsidies, which had increased prices to $16 per 20 litres. Since the war started in March, fuel is only sold on the black market, and now 20 litres of fuel sell for $86. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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In the Old City, apothecary and electricity are a distant memory. 'We have gone back to the dark ages,' said Dr Taha Hussein Al-Rowni, who provides free healthcare. Since the war started, he has seen an increase in bed-wetting and incontinence, particularly among women and children. He thinks it’s due to a fear of air strikes. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Hamoud Mansour's house was damaged by two air strikes, one that hit a petrol station, and another that hit a bridge near his home in the residential area of Al-Mesbahi, Sanaa. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Hamoud Mansour's father, a 55-year-old man, was injured when an air strike hit the petrol station outside his home. His son has severe burns and is still in hospital fighting for his life. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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The remainder of a dining room inside Hamoud Mansour's home, which is situated in the once-lively Al-Mesbahi area in the centre of Sanaa. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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An air strike on October 1 left a missile crater in the middle of a busy Al-Mesbahi junction in Sanaa. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]
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Osama Al-Jay sits by the door of the water store he worked for. 'They are destroying everything. They have left us with nothing,' he said. The store was destroyed by an air strike. [Rawan Shaif Al-Aghbara/Al Jazeera]