Women walk past Saudi-led coalition backed forces, leading the campaign to take over Hodeida, as they patrol Mocha, a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty Women walk past Saudi-led coalition backed forces, leading the campaign to take over Hodeida, as they patrol Mocha, a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty

In ancient times Yemen was known as Arabia Felix, Latin for "happy" or "fortunate", due to its high mountains that attracted rain, making it more fertile than much of the Arabian Peninsula. Today, Yemen is neither happy nor fortunate. After nine years of war, the West Asian country has become the site of grievous civilian suffering amid an unending civil war. 

The Yemen civil war is largely seen as a proxy war between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, both vying to maintain or tip the regional balance of power in their favour. On one side are the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who ousted the Yemeni government. Opposing them is a Saudi Arabia-led multinational coalition backed by the United States. The involvement of other actors, including UAE-backed separatists, has complicated the picture. 

According to the UN Development Program, the war has caused over 370,000 deaths, with indirect factors such as food, water, and health service shortages responsible for nearly 60 percent of these fatalities. Torture, arbitrary arrests, and forced disappearances are among the other alleged war crimes perpetrated by all sides of the conflict.

Beauty In The Broken Land

“Nothing can be imagined more beautiful than the scenery of the mountains of the Yemen. Torn into all manner of fantastic peaks, the rocky crags add a wildness to a view that otherwise possesses the most peaceful charms.”

These words, by Walter B. Harris, a journalist and traveler who visited Yemen in 1892, were recorded in his book A Journey Through The Yemen. For all its remoteness, Yemen is renowned for its great physical beauty. Its highlands, unlike any other part of the Arabian Peninsula, are verdant and photogenic. 

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In this July 30, 2018 photo, a boy takes a 'selfie' with the Marib Dam in Yemen | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty In this July 30, 2018 photo, a boy takes a 'selfie' with the Marib Dam in Yemen | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty

Despite its ancient history as a crossroads of Africa and Asia, the Republic of Yemen is relatively young. The modern state was established in 1990 through the unification of the U.S.- and Saudi-backed Yemeni Arab Republic in the north and the Soviet-backed People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in the south. Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led North Yemen since 1978, became the leader of the unified country.

Situated on the southwestern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen shares borders with Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast, and has the Red Sea to the west and the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the south. Its population, largely Muslim, numbers 32.6 million, with 80 percent living below the poverty line. Despite the conflict, Yemen hosts more than 97,000 refugees and asylum seekers, primarily from Somalia and Ethiopia, making it the world's third-largest host of Somali refugees.

Yemeni Civil War

Yemen has faced civil wars for decades, but the current conflict has its origins in the Arab Spring of 2011. Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in a bid to force the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to end his 33-year rule. He responded with economic concessions but refused to step down. By March 2011, tensions on the streets of the capital city, Sana'a, resulted in protesters dying at the hands of the military.

An internationally brokered deal in November 2011 saw power transferred to Vice President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, paving the way for elections in February 2012 – in which he was the only candidate. The transition was not smooth. Hadi’s attempts at constitutional and budget reforms were rejected by Houthi rebels from the north. 

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Moreover, most of Yemen's armed forces remained loyal to the ousted president rather than to Hadi. Fighting broke out in 2014 when the Houthi Shia Muslim rebel movement took advantage of Hadi’s weakness and seized control of northern Saada province and surrounding areas. The Houthis continued to advance, captured the capital, Sana’a, and forced Hadi into exile.

Yemen's neighbour, Saudi Arabia, was alarmed by the prospect of the Houthis taking control of Yemen, fearing it would become a satellite of its rival, Iran. Saudi Arabia claims that Iran supports the Houthis with weapons and logistical assistance, a charge that Tehran denies. The conflict escalated dramatically in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia, along with eight mostly Sunni Arab states—backed by the US, UK, and France—launched airstrikes against the Houthis, with the declared aim of restoring Hadi's government.

Key Players In The Conflict

The intervention of regional powers in Yemen's conflict, including Iran and Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia, has drawn the country into a regional proxy struggle along the Sunni-Shia divide. All parties to the war have their own agendas, making the conflict hard to resolve. Here are some of these groups:

Houthis

The Houthis, or Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), are a local rebel group that controls a third of Yemen's territory and two-thirds of its population. The Houthis are a militia of Zaidi Shias, a sect that held power for 1,000 years until the 1960s, when a republican army overthrew the imamate. They remain a large minority in Yemen, a predominantly Sunni nation of fewer than 25 million people. As friction with the government grew, they fought a series of guerrilla wars with the national army and a brief border conflict with Saudi Arabia. 

Domestic Opponents Of The Houthis

The Houthis face domestic opposition from various groups. These include southerners, who see the Houthis as northern invaders trying to dominate the South. The new Salafi movement opposes them on religious grounds, and the Islah Party, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, fights the Houthis on political grounds. Other opponents include a broad range of nationalists, liberals, and others, who resist their rule by force. The opposition is thus united against the Houthis but divided against itself.

Al Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula

Set up by members of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in early 2009. The affiliates have their origins in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when fighters who had battled the Soviet Union in Afghanistan returned home. The group took advantage of the chaos of the Arab Spring to establish mini-states in remote eastern regions and launched attacks against Hadi's transitional government. During the civil war, it carried out attacks on both sides. 

A boy sits in a car damaged during the ongoing three year conflict in Mocha, Yemen, Feb. 10, 2018 | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty A boy sits in a car damaged during the ongoing three year conflict in Mocha, Yemen, Feb. 10, 2018 | Photo: AP/Nariman El-Mofty

Saudi Arabia, UAE And West Backed Coalition

Saudi Arabia views the Houthis as a proxy for Iran, its main regional rival, and seeks to prevent Tehran from gaining influence in Yemen. Saudi troops have been deployed along the border and in some Yemeni provinces but have largely relied on airstrikes against Houthi-held areas. The UAE, which is the member of the Saudi-led coalition, exerts influence by arming and training tens of thousands of Yemenis, mostly from the southern provinces. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and other Western countries have actively supported the coalition with weapons, logistics, and intelligence throughout the war until late 2020.

Iran And Its Regional Allies

In Yemen’s devastating war, Iran and its regional proxies have supported the Houthi rebels. Most experts believe that the Houthis began receiving weapons from Iran by 2014, the year they captured Sana'a. In return for Iran’s support, the Houthis have become an increasingly important part of Iran’s "axis of resistance," a network of state and nonstate actors seeking to undermine Western influence in the Middle East. Unlike groups including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraq's Badr Organisation, which are Iran's proxies, the Houthis were not founded with Iran's help. The extent of the relationship between Houthis and Iran is disputed. Some view the group as Iran’s proxy, while others say that it is an autonomous actor.

Ceasefire: A Pause Or Turning Point?

In April 2022, the United Nations facilitated a cease-fire between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government along with its Gulf allies. Although this six-month UN-mediated truce expired in October 2022, both sides have avoided major escalations, and hostility levels have remained low. Improved Saudi-Iran relations and ongoing talks between Riyadh and the Houthis have raised hopes for peace.

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, visited Sanaa in April 2023 and met with Houthi leaders to discuss a potential peace agreement. In September 2023, a Houthi delegation also visited Riyadh. Both meetings concluded with optimism but no definitive agreements.

The ongoing Israel's war on Gaza has put the de facto truce in Yemen at risk. In what the Houthis call a show of support for Hamas and Palestinians, the group has attacked supposed U.S.- and Israel-linked targets in the Red Sea and even fired missiles at Israel to which Israel has retaliated.

The truce is not an end to the war in itself. It is just a pause. It could lead to a permanent ceasefire, requiring concessions from the Houthis and sustained diplomatic efforts from Saudi Arabiamanaloplay, the UAE, and Iran. Failure to use this pause effectively can lead to a new chapter of war. Ultimately, the story of Yemen leaves question marks over its long and uncertain road to peace.