Yemen conflict explained.

 A brief history of Yemen

Yemen is a country in the middle east, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. It shares land border with Saudi Arabia and Oman and shares maritime border with Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. The history of Yemen is rich and complex, dating back to

ancient times. The region has been ruled by various empires and kingdoms throughout history including the Sabaeans, the Himyarites, the Rasulids and the Ottomans. In the 19th century, the northern part of Yemen came under the control of the Ottoman empire, while the southern empire came under the control the the British. After the World war 2, the northern part of Yemen became an independent country known as the Mutawakkilite kingdom of Yemen, while the southern became an British Protectorate known as the Aden protectorate. In 1967, the British withdrew from the southern part of Yemen, and it became the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen. In 1990, the two countries united to form the Republic of Yemen.

 Who is Ali Abdullah Saleh?

We cannot talk about the conflict without mentioning Ali Abdullah Saleh. He is a very important figure in Yemen. He ruled over Yemen for 33 years, from 1978 to 2011. During his Yemen saw a period of

great stability. When he came to power in the 1978, nobody has thought he was going to last very long. As between 1977 and 1978, three presidents came and went. He has managed to managed to stay in power that long because he was a very popular person because of his way of speaking and he make very rousing speeches. He initiated and dominated the unification process, but the fundamental fact is that Yemeni unity was an extremely popular slogan in both the south and the north. If you have to understand the politics you need to understand the difference between the Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime and the government of Yemen. The regime was Saleh and his military, security, and other direct supporters, they were the real decision makers while the government is like clerks. Saleh has a very tight grip over the politics of Yemen. The Houthis were initially supported by Saleh in 2004. He encouraged the rise of Sunni fundamentalist movement in the heartland of Zaidi areas. That was also the origin of six wars between 2004 to 2010 between the Houthis and Saleh's regime.

Conflict

The conflict started in 2011 during the Arab spring, when mass protests forced then president Saleh to step down. After he stepped down, his successor Abdrabbuh Masur Hadi, faced numerous challenges in trying to consolidate power, stabilize the country and address the demand of various factions in Yemen. Saleh was forced out of presidency, but he wasn't forced out of influence. He retained his General People's Congress, which was at the time the main

 political organization in the country. He retained an enormous amount of power. The Houthis participated in national politics, as uprising of 2011 and the National Dialogue Conference, but they did not join the government. During that period, they found themselves in agreement with Saleh. That alliance between the Houthis and Ali Abdullah Saleh really started around 2013, so you then had a situation where, allied with Saleh, they are in a position to take control of Sanaa city in September 2014.The Houthi insurgents-shiite rebels group with links to Iran and a history of rising the Sunni government. As negotiations failed, in 2015 the rebels seized the

presidential palace in January 2015 which lead to the government to resign After that, there was a change in their political actions. The Houthis have now been fighting for the rest of the country since 2015. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition supported by the United States, UK and other western powers launched a military campaign against the Houthi rebels to restore the government The Houthis got rid of Saleh and killed him in December 2017. Since then, they have been in full control of the part of Yemen that they dominate. It's important to remember that although that area is geographically only about a third of the country, demographically, it is more than two-thirds of the population under Houthis control. The conflict then escalates into a full-blown war between the Houthis which are receiving support from Iran and the Saudi-led coalition.

The impact on the people

Since the conflict begin in 2015, millions are affected by the violence, displacement and the economic hardship. The biggest impact is on the civilians as they are struggling to even get the basic

necessities such as food, water and medical care. The conflict is considered as the worst humanitarian crisis. The UN estimates that 131,000 of the estimated 233,000 deaths in Yemen since 2015 are a result of indirect causes like food insecurity and lack of access to health care. Nearly 25 million Yemenis remain in need of assistance, five million are at risk of famine and a Cholera outbreak has affected over one million. The economy has been devastated, with millions of people being pushed into poverty.