All about the Yemen conflict…

The fighting groups are many and often alliances break giving rise to infights which further compound the crisis. On one side is the Houthi and some other supporting groups. On the other side is military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that support President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Members of the coalition include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Sudan. The USA and UK have been providing key intelligence and logistical support to the coalition.

The fight started in bits and pieces mainly by the Houthi people against late President Saleh who ruled for decades with an iron hand. But after the Arab Spring in 2011 which impacted many nations in the middle east, the fights against the Saleh regime in Yemen grew stronger and wider.

Saleh fled handing over the reign to Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, his deputy. But Hadi failed to deal with the poor economy, the factional discontents, large-scale corruption and a host of other issues that had been plaguing Yemen for a long time.

His weakness emboldened his opponents especially the Houthis. Meanwhile Iran, a Shia country, saw an opportunity in Yemen’s chaotic situation to increase its influence in the region. It started backing the Houthis who are also Shias.

Saudi Arabia, a Sunni country became alarmed at Iran’s initiatives. It then started backing the Hadi government, along with other Sunni nations  like  United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Sudan. The US also came into the picture primarily because it wanted to halt Iran’s influence.

In September 2014, the Houthis took control over Yemen’s capital Sana’a, and decided to proceed towards the country’s second-biggest city.On 21 March 2015, after taking over Sana’a and the Yemeni government, the Houthis declared that they would overthrow Hadi and increase their control by driving into southern provinces.

The very next day, the Houthis allied with military forces loyal to Saleh, who wanted to regain power, started a fight in Lahij and by 25 March, Lahij fell to the Houthis which made them reach the outskirts of Aden, the seat of power for Hadi’s government.
Hadi fled the country and soon the coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations against them.