Yemen: The country that has suffered way too long

Yemen: The country that has suffered way too long.

Yemen crisis is the world’s most awful philanthropic emergency the world at any point saw, yet at the same time, it’s not to a great extent known and goes unrecognized. Let’s go through what kind of a never-ending nightmare Yemen has been going through and still is. 

1981: North Yemen acquired independence when the Ottoman Empire met its downfall, though South Yemen went on under Britain.

1967: South Yemen had continued under Britain until they pulled out on 30th November 1967 leaving them amidst an extreme terrorist crusade. 

A tactical subordination and 6-year civil war during the 1960s in which Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported inverse sides, ousts the Kingdom and lays out the Yemen Arab Republic.

1990: North and South Yemen off and on relationship came to an end when they put their differences aside and signed their unity agreement on May 22, 1990, forming the Republic of Yemen. After the unification, Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of North Yemen since 1978, advanced to Leader of the Republic of Yemen and Haydar Abu Bakar Attas became state head.

1994: The May-July 1994 civil war in Yemen was pursued between the military of the previous Northern and the Southern Yemeni States and their allies. The conflict brought about the loss of the southern military and the trip in the banishment of numerous Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) pioneers and other Southern secessionists. 

1962-1970: The North Yemen civil war was fought in North Yemen in which Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported the opposing parties. The conflict started with a coup d’état in 1962 by progressive conservations led by Abdullah-as-Sallal, who overthrew Imam Muhammad Al Badr -the new ruler after Imam Ahmed- and proclaimed Yemen a Republic under his rule. The previous ruler disappeared on the Saudi Arabian border where they mobilized well-known help from Northern Shia clans to retake power, heightening quickly a full-scale common conflict. 

1970-1979: The cold war ended in 1970 when a Saudi-sponsored political agreement was formed between the two groups. Although, seven years later, a short military conflict led to another war in February 1979 (The Yemenite war). The conflict was created out of a breakdown in the relation between the two nations after the Leader of North Yemen, Ahmad al-Ghasmi, was killed on 24 June 1978 and Saljm Rubai Ali, a moderate Marxist who had been dealing with a proposed consideration between the two Yemen’s, was killed two days after the fact.

1986: Thousands pass on in the battle for control in the South, which successfully drives the original pioneers from office. Haider Abu Bakar al-Attas dominates and begins to pursue the unification of the 2 states.

2000: On October 12, a suicide attack by the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda against a U.S maritime detonated a little boat close by the USS Cole -a Navy Destroyer- as it was refuelling in the Yemeni port of Aden. The impact tore a 1,600 square-foot (150 square feet) opening in its body and left 17 mariners dead and 31 injured. 

2001: In February, violence in approach questions civil surveys and mandate, which backs augmentation to official term and powers.

2002: February: Yemen ousts over 100 unfamiliar Islamic pastors in crackdown on Al Qaeda.

October: On 6 October, the French twofold structure oil big haulier, the Limburg of Aden was hit by explosives from a small craft. As a result, the starboard tank number 4 was holed in two spots and spilt hydrocarbon went ablaze. The fire went on for a day and a half (36 hours), killing one and injuring 12 crew members and coasting Yemen dear in lost power revenues.

2004: June-August: Hundreds die as troops fight Shia insurgency led by Hussain Al-Houthi in the north. In June 2004, Houthi rebels began a revolt in the northern province of Saa’da. On August 5, 2004, Yemeni officials announced a major offensive to quash this rebellion in these northern mountains. In the six-week conflict that ensued, 500 People were killed—the first large-scale death toll in the conflict.

September: Saleh’s forces killed Hussain Al-Houthi. The Yemeni armed forces and air forces were utilized to stifle the resistance in the most distant north of Yemen, particularly in Sa’ada area. The Saudis got together with Sales in these missions. The Houthis won against both Saleh and the Saudi armed force, outperforming them both over and over.

2005: March-April: Exactly 1,500 individuals were killed in a resurgence of battling between government forces and allies of the killed minister, presently calling themselves Houthis.

June: 23 June 2005, the Houthis military commander Abdullah al-Ruzami gave up to Yemeni authorities after tribal med mediators worked out a deal with the government. 

2007: Early in 2007, the Houthis rebels and Saleh’s administration again wind up in conflict. Battling goes on for a considerate length of time until Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi agrees with Saleh with the assistance of Qatar. The Yemeni government seized bases belonging to the Houthis in northern Yemen, following fighting that claimed 4,000 lives and drove approximately 2,500 civilians from their homes. On June 16, 2007, representatives of both sides announced a ceasefire in that three-year fight. The ceasefire was broken on January 10 2008, when Houthis attacked military bases near Jabal Marran.

2008: March-September: The 2008 U.S embassy attack in Yemen in Sana’a on September 17, 2008, brought about 18 deaths and 16 injuries. Six attackers, six Yemeni police and six civilians were killed. This assault was the second happening around the same time, after a mortar attack prior in 2008 on March 18, missed the embassy and instead hit a close-by young ladies' school. Islamic Jihad of Yemen, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, claimed responsibility for the attack.

On April 6, three mortars hit residential complex housing western workers, including several U.S. Embassy employees in Sanaa, prompting the ordered departure of non-essential U.S. Embassy staff and family members.

On April 30, two mortars hit the Customs Administration parking lot, causing a large explosion just adjacent to the Italian Embassy, believed by many to have been the intended target.

In May, an AQY-affiliated group claimed that it fired a mortar onto the grounds of the presidential palace in Sanaa, but no official statement was released acknowledging the incident.

In July, AQY claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb attack on a central security forces compound in Hadramaut that killed eight.

2009: August: Operation Scorched Earth – a Yemeni military hostile in the Sa’ada governorate started in August 2009. It denoted the fifth rush of savagery during the continuous uprising by the Houthis against the public authority. 

November: 4th November- Houthis insurgency in Yemen, also known as Sa’ada War, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis (the development additionally incorporates Sunnis) against the Yemeni military that started in Northern Yemen and has since swelled into a full-scale civil war. 

The conflict began to escalate on the border, with Houthi fighters infiltrating Saudi Arabia. In response, Saudi Arabia launched a large-scale military incursion into northern Yemen in November to address the infiltration of Houthi militias and stop attacks targeting Saudi border areas. By January 2010, this cross-border fighting had claimed the lives of 133 Saudi soldiers.

2010: January-February: on 5th January, the Yemeni government launches campaigns in 3 provinces to battle Al-Qaeda fighters. 

On 30th January, the leader of the Shia Houthi rebel group in Northern Yemen, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi says they will accept a ceasefire if government actions against them cease, which takes place in February when a cease-fire is agreed between Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government in Northern Yemen.

September: Up to 15,000 Yemeni civilians escaped their homes as the public authority sought after another hostile against separatists in the Southern province.

2011: January: Demonstrations requiring the end of Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule, began in January 2011. Saleh pledged not to search for re-election, but the protests spread. Security powers and Saleh’s allies sent down a crackdown that in the end left somewhere in the range of 200 and 2,000 people dead.

April: Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) consulted to a Gulf Co-activity Council-handled agreement to surrender power, however, the president would not sign. This incited the Hashid ancestral alliance and a few armed force leaders to back the opposition, after which conflicts emitted in Sana’a. 

June: Ali Abdullah Saleh became seriously injured in a bombing and travelled abroad for medical treatment.

September-November: He returned to the presidential palace in September 2011 during recharged conflicts. It was only after November 2011 that he signed the deal that saw his deputy, Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi, accept power and structure a solidarity government. 

2012: February: Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi was confirmed for a 2-year term as President in February 2012 after an election in which he stood unopposed but was unable to counter Al-Qaeda attacks in the capital as the year goes on. The same day Hadi was sworn in as the new President, Al-Qaeda launches a suicide bombing, claiming at least 26 people in the city of Mukalla. 

2014: June: In June 2014, the process of political transition began to fall apart. The Hadi government decided to cut fuel subsidies, which led to a significant increase in prices and triggered protests and attacks from Houthis and their supporters. 

August: the turmoil started on 18th August as the Houthis, angered over a government-implemented explosion of fuel subsides, called for mass protests.

September: on 21st September, as the Houthis took control of Sana’a, the Yemeni army didn’t officially intercede, other than troops associated with General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar and the Muslim brotherhood-affiliated Al-Islah Party. In the wake of overseeing key government structures in Sana’a, the Houthis and the government marked an UN-handled bargain on 21st September to form a ‘unity government.

2015: January: On 19th January, fighting broke out in Sana’a between Houthi forces and members of the President's guards. On the following day, Houthis seized the home of President Hadi, who was then positioned under house arrest, along with other senior authorities. 

On 20th January, Houthi rebels take over the home of the President resulting in their being put under house arrest, Hadi along with PM Bahah and the Yemeni cabinet resign. On 22nd January President Hadi, Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and the entire cabinet resigned.

On 29th January, Houthi rebels seize a Yemen military base South of the capital, Sana’a, where I.S military advisors once trained Yemeni counterterrorism powers to battle Al-Qaeda in the south of the country. The caught base was allegedly monitored by forces loyal to previous President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

February: On 21st February, President Hadi escaped to Aden, announcing that he intended to continue to exercise his Presidential functions. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and key ministers remained under house arrest by the popular committees affiliated with the Houthis. 

March: On 20th March, Daesh gained international attention by carrying out suicide bombings on 2 mosques in the Yemen capital Sana’a which killed 137 people and wounded 357. The attack marked the beginning of an ongoing series of executions and bombings targeting mosques, Houthi headquarters, and Yemeni army bases. 

On 26th March, Saudi Arabia deployed its armed forces for Operation Decisive Storm at the request of President Hadi to help resist Houthi aggression. The Houthis were advancing toward the southern city of Aden, where the Yemeni Government was based, to remove him from power in another attempted coup. 

April: on 20th April, the Saudi representative for the coalition forces, Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, reported that Operation Decisive Storm had ended and would be replaced by a new mission, Operation Renewal of Hope. The new operation was to check the beginning of a more restricted military pointed towards keeping the rebels from working. 

May: Yemen rebels fired rockets and mortars into Saudi Arabia, killing at least 3 and purportedly capturing 5 soldiers in an attack showing the insurgent's ability to launch assaults despite weeks of Saudi-led airstrikes targeting them.

June: On 12th June, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader and Al Qaeda Core (AQC) deputy director Nasir al-Wuhayshi was killed in a CIA drone strike in southeastern Yemen in the coastal city of Mukalla.

August: 15th August, Pro Hadi regained control of the entire Shabwah governorate, including the city of Ataq, after Houthi forces and their allies withdrew from the region. (Previously recapturing the governorates of Aden, Lahj, Dhale and Abyan on 11th August.

September: President Hadi returns to Aden after Saudi upheld government forces and those faithful to Hadi recover the port city from Houthi forces.

2016: January: On 13th January, unidentified assailants shot and killed two traffic policemen, on Sheikh Othman's roundabout in Aden. On 14th January, unidentified militants planted an explosive device on a police car in Aden, killing two and wounding another. In both the attacks, Islamic extremists are suspected. On 28th January, at least seven people are killed in a suicide bomb attack near the presidential palace in Aden, Yemen. The Islamic State claims it was behind the attack. On 29th January, A suicide car bomber struck a checkpoint in the southern Yemen city of Aden, killing seven and wounding another eight. Islamic State affiliates in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack.

April: In April 2016, the UN, acting under Resolution 2216, sponsored peace talks in Kuwait that included government forces and Houthi initiatives, but excluded AQAP and the Islamic state. During the talks, there were several breaches of the ceasefire, and the initiative petered out in August. Coalition airstrikes and ground fighting resumed.

According to the Yemen data project in 2016 alone, the coalition conducted 5,102 airstrikes, with strikes intensifying after talks collapsed. 

December.: The Saudi-led coalition members began with generally unhindered access to hi-tech military equipment. After repeated evidence of civilian casualties from Saudi-led airstrikes, in June 2016, the Obama Administration withdrew U.S. personnel from the joint U.S.-Saudi planning cell and suspended sales of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia.

2017: By 2017, there was no functional state in Yemen. There were “warring statelets,” but no group or alliance had the political support or the military strength to reunite the country or achieve victory on the battlefield. The Houthi-Saleh alliance and the Saudi-led coalition both required external military backing to continue fighting. 

March: Trump reversed Obama’s June 2016 decision and stated his intention to process the suspended munitions sales to Saudi Arabia, despite documentation of continued unlawful strikes in Yemen. 

The UN Panel of Experts on Yemen reported that the coalition blockade of the Sana’a airport and Red Sea ports, which began in November 2017, has severely impleaded the import of humanitarian and commercial goods. They deem the blockade a weapon of war, threatening opponents with starvation. The Panel also found that the Houthi-Saleh forces have obstructed and prevented humanitarian access and distribution of relief in Sana’a. 

The health care system has been forced to make do with reduced financial resources and medical supplies at a time when violence rages and 50 per cent of children under the age of five are chronically malnourished. A breakdown in health, water and sanitation systems led to a cholera outbreak in 2017.

December: A series of violent confrontations between the Saleh and Houthi forces peaked with Saleh’s abrupt announcement in December 2017 that he was abandoning the alliances with the Houthis and would join his greatly diminished force with the Saudi-led coalition. His uprising was short-lived, however, and Saleh was murdered by the Houthis on December 4th.

2018: January: An STC (Southern Transitional Council) move in January 2018 to expel Hadi government officials from Aden appeared to enjoy preliminary support from the U.A.E until Saudi Arabia forced a stand-down.

On 30th January, the SRF (Southern Resistance Forces) in Yemen backed by the U.A.E forcefully seized control of Aden, the interim capital of Saudi Arabia - backed and international recognized Yemeni government. 

In 2018, after years of violent conflict, Yemen had barely been able to exist as a state. The authority of the Hadi government has been so reduced that it was doubtful that it could ever reunite Yemen. The conflict is no longer Houthi and Saleh versus Government forces, as it was in 2015. It now involved multiple warring factions as well as the forces of the Saudi-led coalition and their proxy forces.

February: the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) formally adopted a highly politicized UN panel of Experts report on Yemen.

On 15th February, a United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen report was formally adopted. The report had been circulated and discussed at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January, with aspects of the document, which were not then public, being obtained by the press.

March: The Saudi Arabia military coalition intervention in Yemen dubbed ‘Operation Decisive Storm’ entered its fourth year. To mark the occasion, Houthi forces fired 7 ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia shortly after midnight on March 25, which the Saudi military claimed its defence systems intercepted.

The President of the UN security reported that ‘the UN estimated that 22.2 million people were now in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen, a rise of 3.4 million over 2017. Civilians were vulnerable to outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria at a time when Yemen institutions, including its health system, had been weakened.’

April: On 22nd April, an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition hit a wedding in the Bani Qa’is District at Hajjah Governorate, Yemen. Casualty estimates vary, with the Houthi owned Al-Masirah reporting the toll later that day to be at least 33 civilians including the bride. Forty-five other people were injured.

May: On 3rd May, the U.A.E deployed over 100 soldiers to the island of Socotra is an unofficial military deployment, dismissed Yemeni personnel and took administrative control of Socotra airport and seaport.

At the beginning of May, the U.A.E aircraft transported military vehicles equipment and some 100 troops to Yemen’s Indian Ocean island of Socotra, subsequently taking control of both airport and Marine terminal.

The Yemeni state news agency SABA reported on 24th May that President Hadi had appointed Khaled Al Yamani as his new foreign minister, replacing Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi. 

June: In December 2017 military operations (including airstrikes) escalated in an attempt by the Government of Yemen (GoY), backed by coalition forces, to recapture Al-Hodeidah city, including its strategically important port. In June 2018, the coalition launched ‘Operation Golden Victory’. By the end of 2018, coalition forces had advanced north along the western coastline but were effectively stalled at the southern edge of the city, where armed conflict threatened to cripple port operations.

July: In July 2018, media reported internet services to almost 80 per cent of Yemen were disrupted due to damages to the fibre optic cable in three places in Al-Qanawis and Al Marawi’ah districts in Al Hodeidah Governorate.

August: An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, hit a bus in a busy market on 9th August, killing at least 50 people including children, all under 15, years old and most under age 10, and wounding 77.

September: On 6th September, in Geneva, Switzerland, scheduled peace talks between Yemen’s government and Houthi rebels hung in the balance as both sides traded ultimatums and the UN envoy scrambled to meditate. Although the peace talks collapsed after 3 days of waiting for the Houthi movement delegation, the UN envoy vowed to press ahead with diplomacy.

Beginning in mid-September, Yemen became gripped by fuel shortages, affecting almost all parts of the country except the Marib governorate. Licensed fueling stations – which sell fuel at regulated prices – closed en masse in many areas, with massive queues forming at those that remained open. Black market fuel traders then stepped up to meet the market demand, selling petrol and diesel at significant markups from the regulated prices.

October: On 3rd October, Salah and Maydan Saleh, who were captured by the Houthis in December when their father’s forces turned against the rebels in a conflict that cost the elder Saleh his life, was released by the Houthi rebels.

November: United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member states began negotiating a new draft resolution related to the Yemen conflict in November, calling for measures to de-escalate the war and address the humanitarian crisis. This was the first proposed UNSC resolution related to Yemen since April 2015. Lobbying from Saudi Arabia and the United States, however, appeared to postpone any vote on the text at least until after the negotiations in Sweden

For the first time since adopting Resolution 2216 in April 2015, the UNSC introduced a new draft resolution for the council to consider and negotiate. The UK, penholder of the Yemen file at the council, led the drafting of the resolution on November 1, in consultation with the US. Top US and UK officials had days earlier, called for the warring parties in Yemen to enter a ceasefire and for a new round of UN-led peace consultations.

October-December: Representatives from Yemen’s warring parties sat at a negotiating table for the first time in more than 2 years at the beginning of December. The peace consultation – which took place in Sweden and we’re mediated by the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths – followed international pressure for a ceasefire that begin in October and intensified through November.

December: 6th- 13th December: Houthis and IRG conveyed in Stockholm to discuss various de-escalation proposals and a possible road map to a comprehensive peace agreement. On 13 December, all parties agreed to the Stockholm Agreement which consists of three components: halting hostilities in the city of Al Hodeidah and mutually redeploying forces from the city and the ports of Al Hodeidah, As-Salif (80km north) and Ras Isa (50km north), an executive mechanism on activating the prisoner exchange agreement, and a statement of understanding on Taziz’z.

On 18th December, the ceasefire in Al Hodeidah took effect and was held with mostly minor violations until the end of the month.

On 29th December, a UN source and Houthis state that Houthi forces had begun redeploying from Al Hodeidah port as per the Stockholm Agreement.

2019: January: On 10th January, a Houthi drone attack at Al And military base, killed at least 5 Yemeni soldiers and wounded 20 senior officers from the Yemeni army, including the country’s chief of staff. 

6 killed attending a military parade including the head if Yemeni intelligence. At least 25 military personnel were wounded including several senior officers from the Yemeni army, the country’s chief of staff and a government official. 

24th January: After two days of talks in Al Hodeidah city, representatives of the Hadi government and Houthis agreed on the format for the first phase of a withdrawal from the city and also agreed, in principle, on the second phase a UN statement said. Early February open-source reporting states that while humanitarian sources on the ground stated while airstrikes on the city have stopped, fighting has not decreased enough to allow for aid delivery to take place unhindered or to make Al Hodeidah safe for aid workers and/or civilians.

Despite a slight decrease in conflict and political dynamics shaped by the Stockholm Agreement signed in December 2018, humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate, including increasing cholera caseloads from February to early May 2019.

Fighting in 2019 displaced 45,200 households (more than est. 271,000 individuals). This constitutes a 60 per cent increase on the 169,000 displaced within the same timeframe in 2018. The largest displacement incident in the January-May period was the displacement from Kushan and neighbouring districts, with over 21,000 people displaced on 25 February alone. 

March: Internet conflicts were also reported among groups supporting the GoY and within the Saudi-led coalition. Fighting between Islah aligned armed group and the U.A.E-backed 35th Armored Brigade occurred in March in Taziz’z, resulting in civilians casualties damage to civilian infrastructure and displacement.

Economic wrangling between Aden and Sana’a for the control of fuel supply chains led to fuel shortages and prices hikes in North Yemen in March and April. This disrupted transport networks services and put further pressure on stretched household budgets. 

The ongoing conflict has increased health and protection needs. Access to health services was particularly constrained in areas of fighting. Hospitals were closed, inaccessible or damaged in March in Taziz’z city and Kitaf district (Sa’ada governorate) against a higher level of health needs reported by the local population. Fear of attacks on hospitals resulted in some patients avoiding medical services and doctors not showing up for work.

The 25th February displacement was followed by large scale displacement from Abs at the end of March/beginning of April, with more than 40,000 people displaced within 11 days. Since then, displacement numbers have stayed at consistently lower levels, but exceed the numbers reported at the beginning of the year. Districts most affected by displacement were Abs in Hajjah, Az Zuhrah in Al Hodeidah, and Qa’atabah in Al Dhale’e. The number of IDPs in Al Dhale’e has been consistently increasing between January and May. By the end of May, storms and heavy rains caused increased displacement and destruction of over 500 temporary shelters in Beni Qais camp in Abs.

April: In Al Dhale’e, regular fighting was reported since the beginning of 2019 with a notable escalation in April around Qa’atabah and Damt districts. The fighting resulted in severe access constraints and the highest level of civilian casualties in the governorate in over a year. The Aden – Sana’a highway was effectively cut off, as well as connecting roads to Ibb and Taziz’z. As a result, the movement of goods and people between Aden, Taziz’z, and Sana’a has been severely limited. Distrust between the warring parties was exacerbated by repeated Houthi attacks on critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia since mid-May, which led to heavy retaliatory airstrikes, particularly in the capital and the Taziz’z governorate. 

May: The trend of increasing levels of airstrike related casualties is expected to continue, aggravated by Houthi attacks on critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, which increased in intensity since May. Saudi retaliation is highly likely to result in increased air raids across Yemen, which will most likely continue to impact civilians, affecting 3,000 to 8,000 people across Yemen.

As of late May, the status of the Stockholm Agreement remains extremely fragile. Political negotiations have been stalled for months and the ceasefire has repeatedly been violated. The Houthis’ unilateral withdrawal from Al Hodeidah ports (Ras Isaa, Salef and Al Hodeidah) in the first half of May was criticised by the Government of Yemen (GoY). The GoY claim the Houthis continue to exercise effective control of the ports through local authorities and the coast guard. The withdrawal, which was supposed to be the first step toward implementing the Stockholm Agreement, was widely denounced by the GoY. The GoY subsequently accused the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffith of pro-Houthi bias and threatened to cease cooperation in the UN negotiations, resulting in serious risk of a collapse of the political process.

June: On 23rd June, a Houthi special forces carried out a drone attack on Abha International Airport, killing a Syrian national and wounding 21.

July: The U.A.E withdrew most of its forces from the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen following reported disagreements over the prospects of military victory, Emirati opposition to Islamist militants in Northern Yemen and Saudi support for Yemeni President Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi.

August: Clashes occurred between the Yemeni government and STC forces, with the U.A.E carrying out airstrikes in support of STC. Across the country, civilians suffer from the lack of basic services, a spiralling economic crisis, abusive local security forces, and broken governorate, health, education, and judicial systems.

 The Saudi-led coalition carries out multiple airstrikes on a Houthi detention centre, killing and wounding at least 200. The attack was the single deadliest attack since the war began in 2015. Human Rights Watch has documented at least 5 deadly attacks by Saudi-led coalition naval forces on Yemeni fighting boats since 2018, killing at least 47 Yemeni fishermen, including 7 children. 

September: From August 2019 onwards, the Houthis escalated their military operations, called “victory from God”, in the Kitaf wa Al-Boqe'e axis in Sa’ada Governorate where it controlled several positions.

 On 14 September, two Saudi Aramco facilities located in Abqaiq and Khurais were attacked by drones and cruise missiles, and the Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the attack. The United Nations Security Council-mandated Panel of Experts expressed doubts that the drones and missiles used in the attack had a range allowing them to be launched from Yemeni territory under Houthi control, noting it was unlikely the Houthis were responsible for these attacks. Other attacks using similar weapons were fired from Yemen, and it is not believed that these relatively sophisticated weapons were either developed or manufactured in Yemen. 

On 20 September, the Houthis announced a unilateral suspension of strikes on Saudi Arabia, calling in return for a halt to Saudi airstrikes and a lifting of restrictions on access to northern Yemen. In late October, Houthi forces launched an offensive in Sa’ada Governorate against Yemeni government 

troops. Houthi forces captured most of the Al-Malaheet region in Al-Dhaher following a major offensive against coalition forces.

The Group of Experts also verified that on 24 September 2019, Al-Muzaimir village, Al-Fakhir town, Al-Dhale’e Governorate, over 30 civilians were killed and injured as a result of two airstrikes. The first airstrike hit a house on a farm in this remote rural area, killing at least 10 people – three men, three women, three girls and one boy, and destroying most of the western part of the main building. A second airstrike, 15 to 20 minutes later, set a pick-up truck on fire when the munition landed four metres behind the moving vehicle that was carrying an injured 8-year-old girl who had survived the first strike. At least 20 people, mostly children, were injured from the two strikes, including 11 seriously injured. Some of the injured were taken to a hospital in Ibb governorate

November: The signing of the Stockholm Agreement in December 2018 brought hope of a political solution to the conflict. Less than a year later, the signing of the Riyadh Agreement on 5 November 2019 was meant to resolve tensions in the south between the Government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council. This had been preceded by informal talks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia in September 2019.

However, the implementation of both agreements had stalled. Despite the inclusive and participatory process led by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Yemen, there was a little immediate prospect of peace. Notwithstanding an initial decrease in hostilities, there had been an intensification of fighting on the ground. 2020 has seen shifting power dynamics in the south.

2020: January: Heavy fighting recommenced in Yemen. On 18th January, the Houthis allegedly launched missiles at one of the governments of Yemen military camps, El-Estikbal camp in Ma’rib. The strike reportedly killed more than 10 soldiers from the 4th Presidential Brigade. Battles intensified after the strike, with both sides suffering heavy losses. At the end of January, Houthi forces captured the Sana’a-Ma’rib governorate border checkpoint, a highly strategic intersection where the roads heading north to Al-Jawf and east to Ma’rib meet. This occurred amidst intense fighting along previously stalemated front lines in Al-Jawf, Nihm and Ma’rib. 

February: One of the deadliest series of airstrikes of 2020 was conducted by the coalition in the early hours of 15th February 2020, on a village in Al-Hayjah Area, Al-Maslub district, Al-Jawf governorate, killing 32 people -6 men, 7 women, 8 boys and 11 girls and injuring 21 -3 men, 6 women, 5 boys and 7 girls. 2 houses and 1 car were also injured. 

By the end of February, Al-Jawf’s capital, Al-Hazm has fallen under Houthi control. The Houthi forces continued their offensive in Al-Jawf, and by April had control over the district of Khabb wa ash Sha’af, which borders Saudi Arabia.

March: On 20th March 2020, the UN Secretary-General made an urgent appeal for an immediate end to hostilities in Yemen and for the parties to focus on reaching a negotiated political settlement and doing everything possible to counter COVID-19. 

On 28th March, Saudi air defences intercepted 2 ballistic missiles launched by Houthi forces in Yemen -one towards Riyadh, the other toward the city of Jizan. On 30th March, the coalition conducted a series of airstrikes in Sana’a.

April: On 5th April, several motor rounds were fired by the Houthis towards the area of Central Prison (Central Rehabilitation Facility) in the northwest of Taziz’z city. One round killed 6 women –5 inmates and 1 guard- as well as 2 young girls who were visiting their mothers in the female section of the prison and injured 6 other female inmates. A man who was inside his vehicle was injured by another round that landed outside the prison, to finalize the release the next day of over 100 prisoners, including some of the women who were killed and injured, as part of efforts by the Judiciary and lawyers to ease the prison population amid concerns over COVID-19.

On 10th April, the first case of COVID-19 in Yemen arrived at a patient living in Ash Shihr in Hadramaut.

On 26th April, the STC declared the establishment of a ‘self-rule’ administration, though it withdrew that declaration in July 2020.

May: on 26th May, Houthi fighters attacked a military base in Ma’rib governorate, killing 7 people.

On 28th May, UN agencies and other international humanitarian partners launch a US$2.41 billion appeal for additional funds to fight the spread of COVID-19 in Yemen.

June: On 2nd June, a male photojournalist, 34 years old, was killed on 2 June 2020 by unidentified armed men close to his house in Dar Saad district, close to Aden. He had worked for various international press agencies covering the war in southern governorates. His work was praised internationally, in particular by other journalists, for the French Press Agency documentary “The Battle of Aden”. It was reported that before Ramadan 2020 he had received various death threats. On 3 June 2020, the STC made a public statement condemning his death and announced that a thorough investigation would be conducted.

In the Shabwah governorate, on the morning of 4 June 2020, a 16-year-old boy was killed and 5 adult men were injured by the explosion of an anti-vehicle landmine in As-Safra region, Usaylan district. 

Over 1,628 access incidents were reported between March and June 2020 across 49 districts in 16 governorates. Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, Sana’a, and Aden governorates reported the highest number if access incidents overall as well as an increasing number of incidents between March and June, even when the Number dropped off in other areas.

July: On 12th July, a coalition airstrike killed 9 civilians, including 7 children and 2 women and injured 2 children and 2 women in Washhah district, Hajjah Governorate. On 15th July, another airstrike resulted in the death of at least 10 civilians, including 6 women and 2 children, and injured 3 adults and 4 children, in Masafa village, east of Al-Hazm in Al-Jawf governorate.

August: the STC announced its withdrawal from talks to implement a peace deal brokered by Saudi Arabia, within hours, clashes resumed between separatists and Yemeni government forces.

September: the UN announced that the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Hadi government supported by the Saudi-led military coalition, agreed to exchange about 1,081 detainees and prisoners related to the conflict as part of a release plan in early 2020. 

October: Yemen’s warring parties began prisoner swap, raising peace prospects.

November: Reporters reported that in back-channel talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, Saudi officials indicated that they would be willing to sign a ceasefire and end their air and sea blockade of Yemen in exchange for the creation of a ‘buffer zone’ where Houthi forces ‘leave a corridor along the Saudi borders to prevent incursions and artillery fire’.

The Houthis fired cruise missiles into Saudi territory and damaged a Saudi Aramco oil distribution station in Jeddah, a major part located in Saudi Arabia’s western coast a day after the conclusion of a Saudi government-hosted virtual G20 leaders summit.

December: On 18th December, Yemen’s President, Abed Rabbi Mansur Hadi, currently exiles in Saudi Arabia, announced a cabinet reshuffle. The new Yemeni government was formed following a power-sharing agreement in Riyadh earlier in December between supporters of President Hadi and the southern separatist movement which fought Hadi forces in Aden last year.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdul-Malik was reappointed to head the new cabinet, which includes 5 ministers from Yemen’s biggest political blocs, including STC and Islah party 

The Unity government, which includes representatives from STC and the Hadi government was sworn in on 26th December 2020. This government, formed after months of negotiations was a significant achievement of the Riyadh agreement. However, the Unity government had not been able to meet all its objectives.

On 30th December, Aden International Airport was attacked by missiles, just as the newly formed Unity government landed. At least 22 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the attack.

2021: January: The Houthis were designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on 10th January 2021 as a swan song of the Trump administration in Washington, but the decision was restricted less than a month later but newly inaugurated U.S President Joe Biden, after the UN and aid organization testified it would paralyze humanitarian operations.

February: Since President Joe Biden, 4th February 2021 policy pronouncement on Yemen, the U.S has ceased support to offensive operations by Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners and made some changes to the U.S missile and air defence posture in Saudi Arabia.

On 6th February, Houthi forces launched extended attacks along multiple fronts in the northwest, west and south of Ma’rib governorate.

March: On 22nd 2021, Riyadh presented a new peace proposal that involved the lifting of the Saudi-led coalition's partial blockade of Hodeidah Port, the reopening of Sana’a International Airport and peace talks among the Yemeni parties involved in the conflict, though it was quickly rejected by the Houthis, who insisted the proposal was ‘nothing new’, but discussions between the two sides continued for the rest of the year, aided by Omani mediation and parallel to Saudi Arabia’s de-escalation talks with Iran.

Saudi Arabia began to offer indirect foreign currency support for Yemen in the form of a US$422 million fuel grant for electricity, delivered via the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SSRPY).

Houthi authorities increased customs fees from 30% to 50% on commercial imports coming from government-held areas.

In March, one protest, backed by the STC, led to the storming of Aden’s Ma’ashiq Palace, the seat of government. In Hadramawt, on March 30, security forces west of Mukalla city fired on demonstrators, killing one civilian, and leading to the declaration of a state of emergency by Hadramawt’s governor.

April: A rocket strike on 3rd April 2021, apparently from Houthi military positions, killed a boy and wounded others who were playing soccer in Ma’rib city, with no military presence reported near the site at the time.

On 15th April, the UN humanitarian chief warned that the works largest humanitarian crisis in Yemen is getting worse with the COVID-19 pandemic ‘roaring back in recent weeks as the Arab world's poorest country faces a large-scale famine’. 

On 18th April, officials in Yemen said fighting between forces of the internationally recognized government and Houthi rebels raged in the provinces of Ma’rib and Taiz’z, killing at least 70 fighters on both sides.

On 29th April, in Yemen, a landmine explosion near the strategic port city of Hodeidah, killed 3 children and wounded 3 and their mother.

May: On 1st May, Yemen security officials said floods have swept through parts of the country amid heavy seasonal rains, leaving at least 13 people dead, including 2 children.

July: In late July, the Yemeni government increased its own customs tariffs by doubling the customs exchange rate from YR250 per US$1 to YR599 per US$1 for all goods besides basic foods, fuel and medicine.

Clashes continued across Ma’rib, Al-Hodeidah and Al-Bayda.

August: In August 2021, a Houthi UAV attack against a military base in the southern governorate of Lahj killed at least 30 soldiers.14 months later, a combined Houthi UAV/missile attack struck the port of Mokha, destroying several warehouses filled with humanitarian goods. The attack coincided with the visit of the ROYG Ministry of Transportation to mark the reopening of Mokha commercial port, which had been closed for several years.

September: In 2021, in the centre governorate of Al-Bayda, forces aligned with ROYG initially pushed the Houthis back. However, in September 2021, the Houthis declared control of the governorate.

November: As of November 2021, Yemen remained beset by multiple armed and political conflicts which, in their totality, have crippled central governance, devastated the national economy and exacerbated a long-standing humanitarian crisis.

The epic centre of fighting was around the northern governorate and city of Ma’rib, the last areas under the control of the internationally recognized Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) led by Yemeni President Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi.

2022: January: on 21st January, an airstrike killed 82 people and injured 266 others which were condemned by the UN. The Saudi-led coalition denied involvement in the attack.

February: Al Masira reported from Yemen that Emirati – Saudi fighter jets targeted the Al-Hafa and Al-Nahdir areas in the Yemeni capital 9 times in the early hours of 6th February and 2 days later Saudi fighter jets bombed the Yemeni capital extensively. Saudi coalition fighters also carried out 29 airstrikes against Sana’a, Hajjah, Ma’rib and Al-Jawf provinces. Another airstrike, on 21st February, by the Saudi coalition hit a residential house in Yemen’s Hajjah overnight killing and wounding 9 people, most of them women and children.

From 25th to 27th February, the Saudi coalition dropped airstrikes and attacks on Yemen continuously. The first Saudi artillery and drone strikes in Northern Yemen killed 3 civilians. The second artillery attack on the borders of the Yemeni province of Sa’ada killed 3 and wounded more than 7 civilians. The third they had targeted the besieged Sana’a airport several times. 

March: The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement that 47 Yemeni children had been killed in the last 2 months. 

The statement said that according to UN investigations more than 10,200 children have been killed and injured since the start of the war in Yemen (7 years ago).

On 14th March, several activists and journalists called for an end to the siege of Yemen by launching an international campaign, #EndTheSiegeOnYemen,#ارفعوا_الحصار_عن_اليمن, in both English and Arabic. 

April: On 1st April, it was announced that a two-month truce would be out under effect on 2nd April must be the first step in ending the country’s devastating war, stated UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. 

The truce started at 19:00 on 2nd April, local time, and coincided with the start of the holy month of Ramadan.

By: Syeda Omaila Ayaz.