Yemeni civil war (2014–present) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yemeni civil war
Part of the Yemeni Crisis, Arab Winter, War on terror, and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
Political and military control in Yemen in October 2022      Republic of Yemen (internationally recognized) and allies      Houthi movement      Southern Movement and other UAE-backed groups      Local, non-aligned forces such as the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance      Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)      Islamic State – Yemen Province (IS-YP) (For a map of the military situation in Yemen and border areas in Saudi Arabia, see the detailed map here.)
Date 16 September 2014 – present (9 years, 7 months and 2 weeks) Location Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia (spillovers) Status Ongoing, Ceasefire since 2 April 2022 with some periodic clashes Houthis take control of Sanaa (2014) Saudi-led coalition forces intervene from 2015, backing the Hadi-led government Former President Saleh is killed (2017) Hadi-led government resigns (2022) Transfers executive authority to the Presidential Leadership Council, led by Rashad al-Alimi United Nations announce two-month nationwide truce on 2 April 2022; further extended on 2 June and officially expired in October but is still active STC launches an offensive against the Islah party, taking large amounts of territory (August 2022) High intensivity negotiations to end the civil war that includes all major combatants started in April 2023 after Iran and Saudi Arabia resumed diplomatic relations in March 2023 Territorial changes As of 28 April 2020, Houthis have control of all of the former North Yemen except for eastern Marib Governorate.
Main belligerents
Supreme Political Council (formerly SRC)  Houthi movement Saleh loyalists (until 2017) Pro-Houthi Popular Committees Sanaa-GPC forces Alleged support:  Iran Hezbollah  North Korea  Syria	Yemeni government (internationally recognized; Presidential Leadership Council since 2022) Pro-Hadi/Alimi Security forces Pro-Hadi and Saleh General People's Congress factions Al-Islah Popular Resistance Committees Popular Committees Strategic Reserve (pro-Hadi-Saleh forces) Saudi-led coalition  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates  Sudan  Senegal  Morocco (2015–19)  Qatar (2015–17) Academi security contractors (2015–16) Southern Movement Southern Transitional Council (2017–) Tareq Saleh forces (2017–) National Resistance Tihamah Resistance Support:  United Arab Emirates Non-aligned tribal forces Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance	Al-Qaeda AQAP Alleged support:  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates
Commanders and leaders
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi Mohammed al-Houthi (2015–) Mahdi al-Mashat (2018–) Saleh Ali al-Sammad X (2016–18) Mohamed al-Atifi (2016–) Hussein Khairan (2015–16) Sadeq Amin Abu Rass (2018–) Ali Abdullah Saleh X (2014–17)	Rashad al-Alimi (2022–) Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (2014–2022) Mohsen Mohammed Al-Daeri (2022–) Mohammed Al-Maqdashi (2018–2022) Mahmoud al-Subaihi (2014–2018) Mohammed Nasser Ahmed (2014) Ahmed Saleh (2017–) Tareq Saleh (2017–) Saudi-led coalition: Salman bin Abdulaziz Muhammad bin Salman Khalifa bin Zayed # Mohammed bin Zayed Abdel Fattah Burhan Macky Sall Mohamed VI (2015–19) Tamim bin Hamad (2015–17) Aidarus al-Zoubaidi	Khalid Batarfi Ibrahim al Qosi Casualties: Nasir al-Wuhayshi  † Qasim al-Raymi  † Nasser al-Ansi  † Ali Abed al-Rab bin Talab  † Helmi Al Zinji (POW) Abdul Rauf al-Dhahab  † Sultan al-Dhahab  † Seif al-Joufi  † Abu Barazan  † Ibrahim al-Rubaish  † Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi Casualties: Abu Bilal al-Harbi  † Radwan Qanan  † Abu Osama al-Muhajer (POW)
Strength
150,000–200,000 fighters	113,500 soldiers and paramilitary 100 warplanes; 150,000 troops 30 warplanes; 10,000 troops 15 warplanes; 300 troops 10 warplanes; 1,000 troops 6 warplanes 6 warplanes; 1,500 troops 4 warplanes; 8,000–30,000 troops 2,100 troops 4 warships and warplanes 1,800 security contractors	al-Qaeda Ansar al-Sharia: 6,000–8,000 IS: 300
Casualties and losses
"Thousands" killed (per Al Jazeera; as of May 2018) 11,000+ killed (Arab Coalition claim; as of December 2017)	Unknown 1,000–3,000 Saudi losses 10 captured; 5 aircraft lost; 8 helicopters lost 9 drones lost 20 M1A2s lost 1 frigate damaged 108 soldiers killed Emirati losses 2 aircraft lost 3 helicopters lost 1 minesweeper damaged 6 drones lost 1 watercraft damaged 1,000–4,000 soldiers killed 9 soldiers killed 1 F-16 crashed 4 soldiers killed 10 servicemen killed 1 F-16 shot down 1 F-16 lost 71 PMCs killed 1 killed American losses 4 drones shot down 1 helicopter lost 1 tiltrotor craft lost	1,000 killed, 1,500 captured
377,000+ people killed overall (150,000+ from violence) (2014–2021) (UN) 85,000 Yemeni children died from starvation (2015–2018) (Save the Children) ~4,000 dead from cholera epidemic; 2.5+ million cases overall (2016–2021) 4 million people cumulatively displaced (2015–2020) (UNHCR) 500+ killed in Saudi Arabia by Houthi attacks (2014–2016) (Saudi Arabia figure) 3 Emirati civilians killed

The Yemeni civil war (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية اليمنية, romanized: al-ḥarb al-ʾahlīyah al-yamanīyah) is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.

The civil war began in September 2014 when Houthi forces took over the capital city Sanaa, which was followed by a rapid Houthi takeover of the government. On 21 March 2015, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee declared a general mobilization to overthrow then-president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and expand their control by driving into southern provinces. The Houthi offensive, allied with military forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah 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. Hadi fled the country the same day. Concurrently, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations by using air strikes to restore the former Yemeni government. Although there was no direct intervention by Iran, who support the Houthis, the conflict has been seen by Western sources as an extension of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict and as a means to combat Iranian influence in the region.

Houthi forces currently control the capital Sanaa and all of the former North Yemen except eastern Marib Governorate. They have clashed with Saudi-backed pro-government forces loyal to Hadi. Since the formation of the Southern Transitional Council in 2017 and the subsequent capture of Aden by the STC in 2018, the anti-Houthi coalition has been fractured, with regular clashes between pro-Hadi forces backed by Saudi Arabia and southern separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State have also carried out attacks against both factions, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast. The UN brokered a two-month nationwide truce on 2 April 2022 between Yemen's warring parties, which would also allow fuel imports into Houthi-held areas and some flights operating from Sanaa International Airport to Jordan and Egypt. The UN announced on 2 June 2022 that the nationwide truce had been further extended by two months.

According to the UN, over 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen, as well as estimates of more than 227,000 dead as a result of an ongoing famine and lack of healthcare facilities due to the war. 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." The crisis has only begun to gain as much international media attention as the Syrian civil war in 2018.

The international community has condemned the Saudi Arabian-led bombing campaign, which has included widespread bombing of civilian areas inside the Houthi-controlled western part of Yemen. According to the Yemen Data Project, the bombing campaign has killed or injured an estimated 19,196 civilians as of March 2022. The United States has provided intelligence and logistical support for the Saudi-led campaign, which continues despite the Biden administration's pledges to withdraw U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Historical context

When Islam first came to Yemen, it mostly took the form of Zaydism, a Shia sect. It was not until the arrival of the Rasulids that Shafi'i Sunnism became popular. From there on, the two groups, Zaydis in the north and Rasulids in the South, started competing with each other. The state of rivalry was cut short by the fall of the Rasulid rule and the succession of imperialist powers' involvements in the Middle East, notably the expansionist Ottoman empire.

The defeat of the Ottomans in the first World War eventually gave way to the first unification (although not complete) of Yemen. This was possible during the Hamid al-Din dynasty under Imam Yahya and his son's rule. The unification also meant the establishment of a hierarchy within which Zaydis had authoritative power over Sunnis. As a consequence, the difference in status became instituted and normalized. The Hamid al-Din dynasty faced the Zaydis' discontent due to a non-conformity to Zaydi traditions, thus coming to an end with the overthrow of Imam Yahya's grandson, Imam Badr, in 1962. What followed was a civil war opposing republicans to royalists. Helen Lockner explains that such a division was not ideological; it was based on past feuds. Nonetheless, external powers like Saudi Arabia intervened for ideological motives, as the latter sought to maintain the monarchy system which it adhered to itself. Despite Saudi Arabia's original intentions, in 1970, the republican form was retained.

While these developments took place in the North, liberation movements against British presence broke out, amounting to the creation of a socialist state, hence Soviet Union ally, in the Southern Arabian region. It was named the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY).

The PDRY was involved in the internal disputes of its northern counterpart. It had previously supported the republicans in fighting off Saudi Arabia's influence, but it was the Hamdi regime that was most notorious for its politices that aimed to reduce Saudi presence in Yemeni politics. His rule was, nonetheless, short-lived.  A series of political unrest marked by the assassination of former presidents, led to Colonel Ali Abdullah Saleh's rise to the presidency of the Yemen Arab Republic. Saleh's rule lasted for 33 years. The major event that marked his regime was the unification of Yemen in 1990. His attempt was not entirely successful as a civil war broke out in 1994. However, he was able to come out of it victorious. Subsequently, the Republic of Yemen became constitutionally established.

Saleh tried to maintain his position through constitutional amendments, hoping for his son to take over, but strong opposition and protests pressured him out of office. Meanwhile, the group "Friends of Yemen" was created, initially to stop al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) after evidence pointed at it as the main perpetrator behind multiple attacks on US military bases and equipment. The "Friends of Yemen" group becomes more involved in Yemen during the Arab Spring following suit the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and United Nations recommendation to put the management of Yemen's "crisis" in the hands of global actors.

The Houthis

After the end of their rule, from the 1960s onwards, Zaydis faced discrimination and Sunnification policies from the consequent Sunni dominated governments. For example, Salafis in Saada claimed al-Shawkani as an intellectual precursor, and future Yemeni regimes would uphold his Sunnization policies as a unifier of the country and to undermine Zaydi Shi'ism.

Ansar Allah (sometimes Anglicised as Ansarullah), known popularly as the Houthis, is a Zaydi group with its origins in the mountainous Sa'dah Governorate on Yemen's northern border with Saudi Arabia. They led a low-level insurgency against the Yemeni government in 2004 after their leader, Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, was killed in a government military crackdown following his protests against government policies.

The intensity of the conflict waxed and waned over the course of the 2000s, with multiple peace agreements being negotiated and later disregarded. The Houthi insurgency heated up in 2009, briefly drawing neighboring Saudi Arabia to the side of the Yemeni government, but cooled the following year after a ceasefire was signed.

Then during the early stages of the Yemeni Revolution in 2011, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi declared the group's support for demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Later that year, as Saleh prepared to leave office, the Houthis laid siege to the Salafi-majority village of Dammaj in northern Yemen, a step toward attaining virtual autonomy for Sa'dah.

The Houthis boycotted a single-candidate election in early 2012 meant to give Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi a two-year term of office. They participated in a National Dialogue Conference, but withheld support from a final accord in early 2014 that extended Hadi's mandate in office for another year.

Conflict between the Houthis and Sunni tribes in northern Yemen spread to other governorates, including the Sanaa Governorate by mid-2014.

Humanitarian situation

CNN reported on 8 April 2015 that almost 10,160,000 Yemenis were deprived of water, food, and electricity as a result of the conflict. The report also added per source from UNICEF officials in Yemen that within 15 days, some 100,000 people across the country were dislocated, while Oxfam said that more than 10 million Yemenis did not have enough food to eat, in addition to 850,000 half-starved children. Over 13 million civilians were without access to clean water.

A medical aid boat brought 2.5 tonnes of medicine to Aden on 8 April 2015. A UNICEF plane loaded with 16 tonnes of supplies landed in Sanaa on 10 April. The United Nations announced on 19 April 2015 that Saudi Arabia promised to provide $273.7 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Yemen. The UN appealed for the aid, saying 7.5 million people had been affected by the conflict and many were in need of medical supplies, potable water, food, shelter, and other forms of support.

On 12 May 2015, Oxfam warned that the five days a humanitarian ceasefire was scheduled to last would not be sufficient to fully address Yemen's humanitarian crisis. It has also been said that the Houthis are collecting a war tax on goods. The political analyst Abdulghani al-Iryani affirmed that this tax is: "an illegal levy, mostly extortion that is not determined by the law and the amount is at the discretion of the field commanders".

As the war dragged on through the summer and into the fall, things were made far worse when Cyclone Chapala, the equivalent of a category 2 Hurricane, made landfall on 3 November 2015. According to the NGO Save the Children, the destruction of healthcare facilities and a healthcare system on the brink of collapse as a result of the war will cause an estimated 10,000 preventable child deaths annually. Some 1,219 children have died as a direct result of the conflict thus far.

In March 2017, the World Food Program reported that while Yemen was not yet in a full-blown famine, 60% of Yemenis, or 17 million people, were in "crisis" or "emergency" food situations.

In June 2017, a cholera epidemic resurfaced which was reported to be killing a person an hour in Yemen by mid June. News reports in mid June stated that there had been 124,000 cases and 900 deaths and that 20 of the 22 provinces in Yemen were affected at that time. UNICEF and WHO estimated that, by 24 June 2017, the total cases in the country exceeded 200,000, with 1,300 deaths. 77.7% of cholera cases (339,061 of 436,625) and 80.7% of deaths from cholera (1,545 of 1,915) occurred in Houthi-controlled governorates, compared to 15.4% of cases and 10.4% of deaths in government-controlled governorates, since Houthi-controlled areas have been disproportionately affected by the conflict, which has created conditions conducive to the spread of cholera.

On 7 June 2018, it was reported that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had pulled 71 of its international staff out of Yemen, and moved the rest of them to Djibouti, with some 450 ICRC employees remaining in the country. The partial evacuation measure came on the eve of an ICRC worker, a Lebanese national, being killed on 21 April by unknown gunmen in the southwestern city of Taiz. The ICRC stated, "our current activities have been blocked, threatened and directly targeted in recent weeks, and we see a vigorous attempt to instrumentalize our organization as a pawn in the conflict." In light of the serious security deterioration for ICRC personnel, the international organization has called for all parties of the conflict "to provide it with concrete, solid and actionable guarantees so that it can continue working in Yemen." Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 10,000 people have been killed and at least 40,000 wounded, mostly from air raids.

Protest against the war in Yemen on 14 August 2020

The International Rescue Committee stated in March that at least 9.8 million people in Yemen were acutely in need of health services. The closure of Sanaʽa and Riyan airports for civilian flights and the limited operation of civilian airplanes in government-held areas, made it impossible for most to seek medical treatment abroad. The cost of tickets provided by Yemenia, Air Djibouti and Queen Bilqis Airways, also put traveling outside Yemen out of reach for many.

The United Nations Development Programme published a report in September 2019 that said if the war continues, Yemen will become the poorest country in the world, with 79% of the population living below the poverty line and 65% in extreme poverty by 2022.

On 3 December 2019, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Amnesty International released a report highlighting how the almost 5-year old Yemen war has left millions of people living with disabilities and excluded from medical attention. The armed conflict led by Saudi Arabia and UAE as part of the former's coalition in the Arab nation against Houthis and terror groups, has given birth to the worst humanitarian crisis, as stated by the United Nations.

Humanitarian aid provided to Houthi-controlled Yemen will be scaled-down in March 2020 because donors doubt if it's actually reaching the people in need, UN official said.

In June 2020, the UNHCR said that following more than five years of war in Yemen, more than 3.6 million people have been forced to flee their homes, while 24 million are in dire need of aid. The group also informed that a significant gap in funding has been recorded with only US$63 million received thus far, while at least US$211.9 million is needed to run the operations in 2020.

On 2 July 2020, Human Rights Watch reported that detainees at Aden's Bir Ahmed facility were facing serious health risks from the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic. The informal detention facility, controlled by Yemeni authorities affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, is grossly overcrowded and was deprived of health care facilities.

The World Food Programme (WFP) projected in March 2021 that if the Saudi-led blockade and war continues, more than 400,000 Yemeni children under 5 years old could die from acute malnutrition before the end of the year as the blockade devastates nation.

Impact on citizens

Children and women

Code Pink anti-war activists protest U.S. Senators supporting Saudi-U.S. arms deals, December 2017

According to UN estimates, the war has directly caused the death of over 3,000 children as of December 2020^[update]; while indirect causes of the war (lack of food, health and infrastructure) have led to additional deaths. The UN estimates that at the end of 2021, 70% of all the casualties of the war (around 259,000) are children under five.

Children are recruited between the ages of 13 and 17, and as young as 10 years old into armed forces despite a law against it in 1991. The rate of militant recruitment in Yemen increases exponentially. According to an international organization, between 26 March and 24 April 2015, armed groups recruited at least 140 children. According to the New York Times report, 1.8 million children in Yemen are extremely subject to malnutrition in 2018.

According to UNICEF, two million children have dropped out of school in Yemen since the conflict began in March 2015. The education of other 3.7 million children is uncertain as the teachers have not received salaries in the last two years.

On 9 October 2019, children's advocacy group, Save the Children warned of a significant rise in cholera cases in northern Yemen. The crisis caused by increase in fuel shortages has affected several thousand children and their families.

Health

The UN estimates that the war caused an estimated 230,000 deaths by December 2020, of which 130,000 were from indirect causes which include lack of food, health services and infrastructure. Earlier estimates from 2018 from Save the Children estimated that 85,000 children have died due to starvation in the three years prior.

Between October 2016 and August 2019, over 2,036,960 suspected cholera cases were reported in Yemen, including 3,716 related deaths (fatality rate of 0.18%).

The seasonal flu virus in Yemen has claimed more than 270 lives since October 2019. Poor medical facilities and widespread poverty in Yemen due to the war waged by Saudi-led coalition and Houthis have led to the deaths of many infected patients in their homes.

Between April and July 2020, research showed that there was a peak in daily excess burial rates of approximately 1500, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The overall disease surveillance in Yemen was also affected by the armed conflict. The disease early warning system was fragmented, with the government without control of the system in Houthis controlled areas and vice versa.

The UN estimated that by the end of 2021, the conflict in Yemen had claimed more than 377,000 lives, and 70% of deaths were children under age 5.

Religious minorities

The US government estimates that religious minorities in Yemen constitute less than 1% of the population. They are categorized into four groups including Baha’is, Jews, Christians and Hindus. The Houthi movement has been said to be intolerant towards religious minorities. It was claimed that Houthis attachement to their own practices has lead to a discriminatory stance against other types of faiths present in territories that are under their control. The Baha’i International Community stated that a number of Baha’is were imprisoned by the Houthi for religious reasons.

In the province of Al-Bayda, AQAP was responsible for the execution of four people on January 10^th, 2019. The justification given related to their atheist beliefs.

As of March 2020, the Jewish Cemetery in Aden was destroyed; as of April 2020, the fate of the last 50 Jews in Yemen was reported to be unknown. On 13 July 2020 it was reported that the Houthi Militia is capturing the last Jews of Yemen of the Kharif District. On 16 July 2020, five Jews were allowed to leave Yemen by the Houthi, leaving 33 Jews in the country. In July 2020, the Mona Relief reported on their website that as of 19 July 2020, of the Jewish population in Yemen there were only a "handful" of Jews in Sanaa. On 29 March 2021, the Iranian-backed Houthi government deported the last remaining Yemenite Jews to Egypt, ending the continuous presence of a community that dated back to antiquity.

Education

The civil war in Yemen severely impacted and degraded the country's education system. The number of children who are out of school increased to 1.8 million in 2015–2016 out of more than 5 million registered students, according to the 2013 statistics released by the Ministry of Education. Moreover, 3600 schools are directly affected; 68 schools are occupied by armed groups, 248 schools have severe structural damage, and 270 are used to house refugees. The Yemen government has not been able to improve this situation due to limited authority and manpower.

Some of the education system's problems include: not enough financial resources to operate schools and salaries of the teachers, not enough materials to reconstruct damaged schools, and lack of machinery to print textbooks and provide school supplies. These are caused by the unstable government that cannot offer enough financial support since many schools are either damaged or used for other purposes.

Despite warfare and destruction of schools, the education ministry was able to send teams to oversee primary and secondary schools' final exam in order to give students 15–16 school year certificates. Currently, UNICEF is raising money to support students and fix schools damaged by armed conflicts.

Residential condition

The Yemeni quality of life is affected by the civil war and people have suffered enormous hardships. Although mines are banned by the government, Houthi forces placed anti-personnel mines in many parts of Yemen including Aden. Thousands of civilians are injured when they accidentally step on mines; many lose their legs and injure their eyes. It is estimated that more than 500,000 mines have been laid by Houthi forces during the conflict. The pro-Hadi Yemen Army was able to remove 300,000 Houthi mines in recently captured areas, including 40,000 mines on the outskirts of Marib province, according to official sources.

In addition, the nine-country coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched many airstrikes against Houthi forces; between March 2015 and December 2018 more than 4,600 civilians have been killed and much of the civilian infrastructure for goods and food production, storage, and distribution has been destroyed. Factories have ceased production and thousands of people have lost their jobs. Due to decreased production, food, medicines, and other consumer staples have become scarce. The prices of these goods have gone up and civilians can no longer afford them for sustenance.

Refugees

Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa across the Bab-el-Mandeb strait from Yemen, has received an influx of refugees since the start of the campaign. Refugees also fled from Yemen to Somalia, arriving by sea in Somaliland and Puntland starting 28 March. On 16 April 2015, 2,695 refugees of 48 nationalities were reported to have fled to Oman in the past two weeks.

According to Asyam Hafizh, an Indonesian student who was studying in Yemen, Al-Qaeda of Yemen has rescued at least 89 Indonesian civilians who were trapped in the conflict. Later on he arrived in Indonesia and he told his story to local media. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in August 2015 that a total of almost 100,000 people fled Yemen, especially to regional countries, like Saudi Arabia and Djibouti. In September 2016, UNHCR estimated displacement of 2.4 million Yemenis within the country and 120,000 seeking asylum.

In 2018, 500 refugees fleeing the civil war in Yemen came to Jeju Island, causing unease among the residents of Jeju Island.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, despite the dangerous situation, nearly 150,000 migrants from Ethiopia arrived in Yemen in 2018, most of whom were on their way to Saudi Arabia in search of employment.

In October 2019, Kuwait donated $12 million to the UNHCR to support its humanitarian programs in Yemen. Salvatore Lombardo, Chief of Staff at office of the UNHCR, said that the donation will be allocated to address the issues of Yemen's internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Evacuation of foreign nationals from Yemen

Registration of Indian citizens evacuating from Yemen in March 2015

The Royal Saudi Navy evacuated diplomats and United Nations staff from Aden to Jeddah on 28 March 2015 as the Houthis targeted the city.

Pakistan dispatched two special PIA flights to evacuate from Aden some 500 stranded Pakistanis on 29 March 2015. Several UN staff members and Arab diplomats were also evacuated following the airstrikes.

The Indian government responded by deploying ships and planes to Yemen to evacuate stranded Indians. India began evacuating its citizens from Aden on 2 April by sea. An air evacuation of Indian nationals from Sanaa to Djibouti started on 3 April, after the Indian government obtained permission to land two Airbus A320s at the Houthi-controlled airport. The Indian Armed Forces carried out rescue operation codenamed Operation Raahat and evacuated more than 4640 overseas Indians in Yemen along with 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries. The Sanaa air evacuation ended on 9 April 2015 while the Aden evacuation by sea ended on 11 April 2015. The United States did not undertake an evacuation of private U.S. citizens from the country, but some Americans (as well as Europeans) took part in an evacuation organized by the Indian government.

A Chinese missile frigate docked in Aden on 29 March to evacuate Chinese nationals. The ship reportedly deployed soldiers ashore on 2 April to guard the evacuation of civilians from the city. Hundreds of Chinese and other foreign nationals were safely evacuated aboard the frigate in the first operation of its kind carried out by the Chinese military. The Philippines announced that 240 Filipinos that had grouped in Sanaa were evacuated across the Saudi border to Jizan, before boarding flights to Riyadh and then to Manila.

The Malaysian government deployed two Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 aircraft to evacuate their citizens from the safe airports in Djibouti and Dubai. From Aden they were recuperated first by sea, and there were many in Hadhramaut Governorate. On 15 April, around 600 people were evacuated to Malaysia, also comprising citizens of other Southeast Asian countries such as 85 Indonesians, 9 Cambodians, 3 Thais and 2 Vietnamese.

The Indonesian Air Force also sent a Boeing 737-400 and a chartered aircraft to evacuate Indonesian citizens. Indonesians remained in Tarim, Mukallah, Aden, Sanaa and Hudaydah.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said it would airlift its citizens out of Yemen if they requested to be evacuated. There were reportedly more than 50,000 Ethiopian nationals living and working in Yemen at the outbreak of hostilities. More than 3,000 Ethiopians registered to evacuate from Yemen, and as of 17 April, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry had confirmed 200 evacuees to date.

Throughout April Russian military forces evacuated more than 1,000 people of various nationalities, including primarily Russian citizens, on at least nine flights to Chkalovsky Airport, a military air base near Moscow. In early April around 900 had come from Houthi-controlled Sanaa, and the balance from Aden.

The UNSC Resolution 2216 was then agreed on 14 April 2015.

Peace process

The Yemeni Civil War, which began in 2014, has been one of the most heavy conflicts in history, and caused a severe humanitarian crisis. In recent years, however, there have been several efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution and bringing stability to the country.

One of the most important developments in the peace process was the Stockholm Agreement, which was reached in December 2018 between the conflicting parties, the government of Yemen and the Houthi rebels. This agreement focused on implementing a ceasefire in the city of Hodeida and the areas surrounding the city. The agreement also focused on the redeployment of forces, and addressing humanitarian concerns. The agreement was seen as a significant step to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and for further negotiations.

Subsequently, there have been multiple rounds of talks and negotiations facilitated by the United Nations. These discussions have covered a comprehensive political solution, prisoner exchanges and the establishment of a transitional government. The main goal has been to address the causes of the conflict, foster national reconciliation and restore security and stability in Yemen.

Another important development in the peace process was the Riyadh Agreement, between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in November 2019. This agreement aimed to resolve power struggles in southern Yemen by establishing a power-sharing arrangement between the two parties. It was seen as a significant step towards achieving a unified Yemen and an important component of the broader peace process.

While progress has been made, the road to peace in Yemen remains challenging due to ongoing clashes, political divisions and regional rivalries. Additionally, the humanitarian situation in Yemen remains dire, with millions of people in urgent need of assistance.

Environmental impacts

Water

Yemen is facing one of the world's worst Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) crises. The lack of governance has left Yemen without a viable water supply. Poor sanitation and the lack of clean water has had a deteriorating effect on the health of Yemenis, which is apparent through the increasing cases of cholera in Yemen since 2015. The entire country has been affected by a water shortage and the price of drinking water has more than doubled. Drinking water has become unaffordable for most Yemenis. The problem in Yemen is widespread, thus making it difficult to reduce the problem from escalating because it is hard to supply everyone on a regular basis.

The Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at UNICEF, Geert Cappelaere, has explained that the fuel shortages in Yemen have deepened the water and health crisis. The water pumping stations in Yemen have been jeopardized as they are quickly running out of fuel and over 3 million people are dependent on these water pumps which have been established through public networks. The ICRC has been working closely with vulnerable people where the resources are limited but aim to prevent the water crisis from worsening by buying 750,000 liters of diesel to provide clean water for people living in Yemen. Already a scarce commodity, the amount of water withdrawn from wells in 2016 reached unsustainable levels. The ICRC has also been working carefully with local authorities to provide water to 330,000 people in Aden. They have also installed wells nearby Aden to provide water to the neighborhood when they are experiencing shortages of water.

Water resources have been used by both sides during the war as a tactic during the conflict. Unlike other countries in the Middle East, Yemen has no rivers to depend on for water resources. In 2017, 250,¬000 people of Taiz's total population of 654,330 were served by public water supply networks. As a result of the ongoing conflict NGO's have struggled to reach the sanitation facilities due to security issues. Since the aerial bombardment, Taiz has been left in a critical situation as the current water production is not sufficient for the population.

Water availability in Yemen has decreased. Water scarcity with an intrinsic geographical formation in highlands and limited capital to build water infrastructures and provision service caused a catastrophic water shortage in Yemen. Aquifer recharge rates are decreasing while salt water intrusion is increasing. After the civil war began in 2015, the water buckets were destroyed significantly and price of water highly increased. Storing water capacity has been demolished by war and supply chains have been occupied by military personnel, which makes the delivery of water far more difficult. In 2015, over 15 million people need healthcare and over 20 million need clean water and sanitation—an increase of 52 percent since the intervention, but the government agencies can not afford to deliver clean water to displaced Yemeni citizens.

Agriculture

The Yemen civil war resulted in a severe lack of food and vegetation. Agricultural production in the country has suffered substantially leaving Yemen to face the threat of famine. Yemen has been since UNSC resolution 2216 was approved in April 2015, under blockade by land, sea, and air which has disrupted the delivery of many foreign resources to Houthi-controlled territory. In a country where 90% of the food requirements are met through imports, this blockade has had serious consequences concerning the availability of food to its citizens. It is reported that out of the population of 24 million in Yemen, everyday 13 million are going hungry and 6 million are at risk of starvation. In October 2016, Robert Fisk reported that there is strong evidence suggesting that the agricultural sector in Houthi-controlled territory was being deliberately destroyed by the Saudi-led coalition, thus exacerbating the food shortage and leaving the Houthis dependent solely on imports, which are difficult to obtain in view of the blockade.

See also