Yemen, a country in the arabian peninsula. Once a rich empire, but now facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. But what is happening in Yemen. Who is fighting whom? Lets find out.
North Yemen became a state as a result of weak Ottoman empire falling part. Aden , in South Yemen was part of British and administered as a part of British India. Yemen was also a proxy warground during the cold war with south being a communist government and being supported by the USSR. In 1972 a war broke out between both countries, but the war was a short one. The government finally signed a treaty and agreed to unify both Yemens. Finally after years of conflict , Yemens finally unified into Republic of Yemen in 1990. Ali Abdullah Saleh of the north became the head of state while al-Beidh of south became vice president.
But there were conflicts within the government led to a civil war in Yemen. The vice president and other rebels declared Democratic Republic of Yemen in the south but was not recognized internationally. But anyways the north prevailed. In 1999 Ali Abdullah Saleh became the first elected president of Yemen.
But in 2004 a Shia group named Houthi started protesting against the saleh government. They claimed that they were being marginalized. In 2009 Al Qaeda branches in Yemen and Saudi Arabia merged forming Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula. There were claims of Al Qaeda supporting the Shia insurgence. As a result US started bombing Al Qaeda targets. This result in killing of civilians.
In 2011 massive protests against the corrupt government of Saleh which was a result of a chain reaction in the arab world knows as the Arab Spring. Saleh finally had to step down after bloody violent protests and condemenation from the world. After Saleh , Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was made the president.
In 2013 Houthis accused the Hadi government of marginalizing them. By 2014-2015 the protests had turned violent and they turned to take shape of a civil war. In September 2014 Houthis captured the capital and as a result the president fleed to Aden and then to Saudi Arabia. Houthis tried capturing aden several times but failed. From then the yemeni war is at a stalemate most of the times.
Saudi- Iran proxy ground
Saudis didn’t like a Shia rebel taking power in their background, they accused Iran of supplying arms to the Houthi’s. Though Iran denied claims of giving arms, they have always supported them. Saudi Arabia as a result started providing arms to the Hadi loyalists. Saudi carry air strikes almost every week.
But in 2015 Saleh openly supported the Houthis and Saleh loyalists fought against the Hadis. But in 2017 he agreed to take a diplomatic approach and withdrew his support to the Houthis and as a result he was assassinated 3 days later by the houthis.
This civil war led to a power vacuum in many regions of Yemen which was filled by Al Qaeda and ISIL.
This map shows the region captured by all the players in the war.
Whatever the cause may be , the ultimate sufferers are the civilians. Because of the sanctions imposed by the US in the Houthi controlled regions, it has become impossible for any medicine and aid to reach Yemen. This even lead to a cholera outbreak in Yemen which killed lives of millions. School buses with children are being attacked by the Saudi missiles.
Yemen has it all. From breathtaking views to mind blowing history. Even tough its in the middle of worst humanitarian crisis, people try to be as happy they can be.
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