The Executive Center for Mine Action said Tuesday that a U.S.-made satellite-guided GBU-31 JDAM bomb was used in the airstrike that hit the Central Correctional Facility in Al-Hazm, Al-Jawf Governorate, on Monday.
The center said its emergency team in Al-Jawf, in coordination with civil defense teams, conducted technical assessments and humanitarian operations at the site, documenting bomb fragments and securing the area in accordance with international mine-action standards.
It said technical experts identified the weapon as a GBU-31 JDAM equipped with a KMU-556 guidance kit and a 2,000-pound warhead, such as the MK-84, manufactured in the United States by Boeing.
The center also said analysis of photographs, videos and recovered fragments from a September 6 strike on the home of Sheikh Mohammed bin Sheikh Al-Urwi Al-Humaigani in Al-Bayda indicated the use of JDAM guidance-system components.
According to the center, similar JDAM munitions have been documented in previous strikes on civilian facilities and infrastructure in Yemen, including power, water, airport, residential, educational and health facilities.
The center warned that such munitions have significant destructive and penetrating capabilities and may pose long-term environmental and health risks. It further said their use against prisons and populated areas could constitute a serious violation of the principle of proportionality under international humanitarian law.
The center added that all recovered evidence and technical identification data had been archived in the national database, while clearance and safety operations around the Al-Hazm correctional facility remain ongoing.
