Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)

The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing war that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies.

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
Part of the Arab Winter, the Yemeni Crisis and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict/Qatar–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
Military situation in Yemen on 13 February 2019   Controlled by the Supreme Political Council (Houthis)   Controlled by the Hadi-led government and allies   Controlled by Southern Transitional Council   Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)   Controlled by Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) (For a map of the military situation in Yemen and border areas in Saudi Arabia, see the detailed map here.)
Date 19 March 2015 – ongoing (9 years, 11 months, 2 weeks and 1 day) Location Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia (spillovers) Status Ongoing Yemen's capital city, Sana'a, captured by the Houthis. Saudi-led coalition forces intervene in Yemen to restore the Hadi-led government. The Hadi-led government is reestablished in Aden. 2016–19 Yemen cholera outbreak Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh is shot and killed by a Houthi sniper in the Battle of Sana'a; Houthis gain absolute control over the entire city. Aden is captured by Southern Transitional Council forces from pro-Hadi forces in the Battle of Aden. Territorial changes As of May 2016: AQAP controls 36% of the country (193,000 km²)[1]
Main belligerents
Supreme Political Council Houthis Pro-Saleh forces (until 2017) Some Popular Committees[2] Sana'a-GPC forces[3] Alleged support:  Iran[4] Hezbollah[5]  North Korea[6]	Cabinet of Yemen Pro-Hadi Security forces Yemen National Army (YNA) Al-Islah Popular Resistance Committees[7] Popular Committees Southern Movement[8][9] Strategic Reserve (pro-Hadi Saleh forces)[10][11][12][13][14] Saudi-led coalition  Saudi Arabia[15]  United Arab Emirates[16]  Senegal[17]  Sudan[18][19]  Morocco[20] (2015–19)[21]  Qatar[18] (2015–17)[22] Academi security contractors[23][24][25][26][27] Under 1,000 troops:  Bahrain[18]  Egypt[18]  Kuwait[18]  Jordan[18] Green Berets[28][29] French Army Special Forces Command[30][31][32] Academi Support:  United Kingdom[33][34]  France[34]  Italy  United States[34][35][36]  Spain  NATO   Switzerland[37]  China[38][38] Southern Transitional Council (from 2017)[39] Tareq Saleh forces (from 2017)[40][41] National Resistance[11] Tihamah Resistance[11] Support:  United Arab Emirates[42][43][44][45]	Al-Qaeda[46][47][48] Ansar al-Sharia AQAP[49] ISIL-YP[50][51]
Commanders and leaders
Mohamed al-Atifi (2016–) Mohammed al-Houthi (2015–) Mahdi al-Mashat (2018–) Hussein Khairan (2015−16) Abdul-Malik al-Houthi Abu Bakr al-Salami[52] Casualties: Ali Raymi †[53] Yahya Hassan Al-Emad †[54] Ahmed Mohsen Ali Al-Harbi †[55] Abdul-Malik Al-Arar †[56] Ali Alzviv †[57] Abdul Razzaq Al-Marwani †[58][59] Mohammed bin Hilal †[60] Ali bin Ali Al-Jaifi †[59][61] Abdul-Qader Hilal †[62] Mansoor Mujahed Namran †[63] Ahmad Al-Khatib †[64] Hasan Abdullah Almalsi †[65] Hashim al-Barawi †[66] Abu Hamza al-Houthi †[67] Hassan Yahya al-Sharafi †[68] Abdul-Khaliq al-Houthi (POW)[69] Abu Jabar Ahmad al-Houthi (POW)[70] Hussain al-Mutawakel (POW)[71] Ali Abdullah Saleh †[72] Saleh al-Sammad †[73][74][75][76]	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Ali Mohsen (2016–) Khaled Bahah (2015–16) Hussein Arab (until 2017) Ahmed Saleh (2017–)[12] Tareq Saleh (2017–) Saudi-led coalition: King Salman Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Zayed Tamim bin Hamad (2015–17) Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan Macky Sall Mohamed VI (2015–19) Under 1,000 troops Abdullah II Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Casualties: Lt. Gen. Muhammad Al Shaalan †[77] Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman bin Saad al-Shahrani †[78] Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Hamzi †[79] Col. Abdullah al-Sahian †[80] Col. Hassan Ghasoum Ageeli †[81] Lt. Col. Abdullah al-Balwi †[82] Col. Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi †[80] Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (WIA)[83] Ali Abdullah Saleh † Mahmoud al-Subaihi (POW) Gen. Abd Rabbo Hussein †[84] Gen. Ahmad Seif Al-Yafei  †[85] Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rab al-Shadadi †[86] Maj. Gen. Jaafar Mohammed Saad † Brig. Gen. Hameed al-Qushaibi †[87] Cmdr. Jarallah Salhi †[88] Capt. Zafir Mansour Ahmed Al-Turki †[89]	Nasir al-Wuhayshi † Qasim al-Raymi Nasser al-Ansi † Ibrahim al-Rubaish † Khalid Batarfi Ibrahim al Qosi[90] Abu Bilal al-Harbi[91] Abu Osama al-Muhajer (POW)[92]
Strength
Supreme Political Council: 150,000–200,000 fighters[93]	100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers[94] 30 warplanes[95] 15 warplanes[95] and 300 troops[96] 15 warplanes[95] 10 warplanes and 1,000 soldiers[95][97] 6 warplanes[95] 6 warplanes[95] and 1,500 troops[20][95] 4 warplanes and 6,000 troops[98][99] 2,100 troops[95] 4 warships[100] and warplanes[101] 1,800 security contractors[102]	Ansar al-Sharia AQAP: 6,000–8,000[103][104][105][106] ISIL: 300[107]
Casualties and losses
"Thousands" killed (per Al Jazeera; as of May 2018) 11,000+ killed (Arab Coalition claim; as of December 2017)[108]	1,000[109]-3,000[110] soldiers killed 10 captured;[111] 3 aircraft lost;[112][113][114] 9 helicopters lost[115][116][117][118][119][120] 20 M1A2S lost[121] 1 frigate damaged[122] Over 120 soldiers killed[123] 3 aircraft lost[124][125] 3 helicopters lost[126][127] 1 watercraft damaged (HSV-2 Swift)[128] 1,000–1,200 soldiers killed[129][130] 8 soldiers killed[131] 1 F-16 crashed[132] 4 soldiers killed[133] 1 soldier killed[134] 1 F-16 shot down[134][135] 1 F-16 lost[136] Academi: 15 PMCs killed[137]	1,000 killed, 1,500 captured[138]
91,600+ killed overall in Yemen (11,700+ civilians)[139] 500+ killed overall in Saudi Arabia[140] 49,960 wounded overall in Yemen[141] (10,768 civilians)[142] 3,154,572 people displaced[143] 84,701 children died from starvation (per Save the Children)[144] and 2,556 people died due to a cholera outbreak (April 2017–October 2018)[145]

Background

Both sides claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.^[146] Houthi forces currently controlling the capital Sanaʽa, allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have clashed with the forces loyal to Hadi who are based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast.^[147] On 21 March 2015, after taking over Sanaʽa and the Yemeni government, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee declared a general mobilization to overthrow Hadi and expand their control by driving into southern provinces.^[148] The Houthi offensive, allied with military forces loyal to Saleh, began fighting the next day in Lahij Governorate. By 25 March, Lahij fell to the Houthis and they reached the outskirts of Aden, the seat of power for Hadi's government.^[149] Hadi fled the country the same day.^[150] At the same time, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations by using air strikes to restore the former Yemeni government.^[18] The United States provided intelligence and logistical support for the campaign.^[151]

Damages

According to the UN and other sources, from March 2015 to December 2017, between 8,670–13,600 people were killed in Yemen, including more than 5,200 civilians,. They estimated more than 50,000 have died as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war.^{[141][152][153]} With Iran suporting the Huthi and Saudi Arabia opposing them, the conflict has been widely seen as a proxy war and a means for Saudi Arabia to combat Iranian influence in the region.^[154][155]

Starvation

In 2018, the United Nations warned that 13 million Yemeni civilians face starvation in what it says could become "the worst famine in the world in 100 years."^[156] The international community sharply condemned the Saudi Arabian-led bombing campaign, which included widespread bombing of civilian areas.^[157] The bombing campaign has killed or injured an estimated 17,729 civilians as of March 2019 according to the Yemen Data Project.^[158] Despite this, the crisis gained less international media attention than the Syrian civil war.^[159][160] The US has been providing bombs to aid the Saudi forces and airstrikes in Yemen. In March 2019, this led the US senate to pass a resolution to end US support of Saudi Arabia.^[161] It was vetoed by President of the United States Donald Trump, and in May, the Senate failed to override the veto.^[162]

Related pages

• List of ongoing armed conflicts