# Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)

| Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) |
| --- |
| Part of the Arab Winter, the Yemeni Crisis and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict/Qatar–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict |
|  Military situation in Yemen on 13 February 2019
  Controlled by the Supreme Political Council (Houthis)
  Controlled by the Hadi-led government and allies
  Controlled by Southern Transitional Council
  Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)
  Controlled by Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
(For a map of the military situation in Yemen and border areas in Saudi Arabia, see the detailed map here.) |
|

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Date | 19 March 2015 – ongoing (11 years, 3 months and 1 day) |
| Location | Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia (spillovers) |
| Status |
Ongoing
* Yemen's capital city, Sana'a, captured by the Houthis.
* Saudi-led coalition forces intervene in Yemen to restore the Hadi-led government.
* The Hadi-led government is reestablished in Aden.
* 2016–19 Yemen cholera outbreak
* Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh is shot and killed by a Houthi sniper in the Battle of Sana'a; Houthis gain absolute control over the entire city.
* Aden is captured by Southern Transitional Council forces from pro-Hadi forces in the Battle of Aden.
 |
| Territorial changes |
As of May 2016: AQAP controls 36% of the country (193,000 km²) |

 |
| Main belligerents |
|  **Supreme Political Council Houthis
* Pro-Saleh forces (until 2017)
* Some Popular Committees
* Sana'a-GPC forces

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**Alleged support: Iran
* Hezbollah
* North Korea
 |  **Cabinet of Yemen Pro-Hadi Security forces
* Yemen National Army (YNA)
* Al-Islah
* Popular Resistance Committees
* Popular Committees
* Southern Movement
* Strategic Reserve (pro-Hadi Saleh forces)

**Saudi-led coalition**
 Saudi Arabia
 United Arab Emirates
 Senegal
 Sudan
 Morocco (2015–19)
 Qatar (2015–17)
Academi security contractors
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**Under 1,000 troops: Bahrain
* Egypt
* Kuwait
* Jordan

 Green Berets
 French Army Special Forces Command
Academi
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**Support: United Kingdom
* France
* Italy
* United States
* Spain
* NATO
* Switzerland
* China

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 Southern Transitional Council (from 2017)  Tareq Saleh forces (from 2017)* National Resistance
* Tihamah Resistance

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**Support: United Arab Emirates
 |  **Al-QaedaAnsar al-Sharia AQAP

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 **ISIL-YP** |
| Commanders and leaders |
| * Mohamed al-Atifi (2016–)
* Mohammed al-Houthi (2015–)
* Mahdi al-Mashat (2018–)
* Hussein Khairan (2015−16)
* Abdul-Malik al-Houthi
* Abu Bakr al-Salami

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**Casualties: Ali Raymi **† Yahya Hassan Al-Emad **† Ahmed Mohsen Ali Al-Harbi **† Abdul-Malik Al-Arar **† Ali Alzviv **† Abdul Razzaq Al-Marwani **† Mohammed bin Hilal **† Ali bin Ali Al-Jaifi **† Abdul-Qader Hilal **† Mansoor Mujahed Namran **† Ahmad Al-Khatib **† Hasan Abdullah Almalsi **† Hashim al-Barawi **† Abu Hamza al-Houthi **† Hassan Yahya al-Sharafi **† Abdul-Khaliq al-Houthi (POW)
* Abu Jabar Ahmad al-Houthi (POW)
* Hussain al-Mutawakel (POW)
* Ali Abdullah Saleh **† Saleh al-Sammad **†**
 |  Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi  Ali Mohsen (2016–)  Khaled Bahah (2015–16)  Hussein Arab (until 2017)  Ahmed Saleh (2017–)  Tareq Saleh (2017–)
**Saudi-led coalition:**
 King Salman  Mohammed bin Salman  Mohammed bin Zayed  Tamim bin Hamad (2015–17)  Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan  Macky Sall  Mohamed VI (2015–19)
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**Under 1,000 troops Abdullah II
* Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
* Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
* Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

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**Casualties: Lt. Gen. Muhammad Al Shaalan **† Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman bin Saad al-Shahrani **† Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Hamzi **† Col. Abdullah al-Sahian **† Col. Hassan Ghasoum Ageeli **† Lt. Col. Abdullah al-Balwi **† Col. Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi **† Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (WIA)
* Ali Abdullah Saleh **† Mahmoud al-Subaihi (POW)
* Gen. Abd Rabbo Hussein **† Gen. Ahmad Seif Al-Yafei  **† Maj. Gen. Abdul-Rab al-Shadadi **† Maj. Gen. Jaafar Mohammed Saad **† Brig. Gen. Hameed al-Qushaibi **† Cmdr. Jarallah Salhi **† Capt. Zafir Mansour Ahmed Al-Turki **†**
 |  Nasir al-Wuhayshi **†**  Qasim al-Raymi  Nasser al-Ansi **†**  Ibrahim al-Rubaish **†**  Khalid Batarfi  Ibrahim al Qosi

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 Abu Bilal al-Harbi  Abu Osama al-Muhajer (POW) |
| Strength |
|  Supreme Political Council:
 150,000–200,000 fighters |  100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers  30 warplanes  15 warplanes and 300 troops  15 warplanes  10 warplanes and 1,000 soldiers  6 warplanes  6 warplanes and 1,500 troops  4 warplanes and 6,000 troops  2,100 troops  4 warships and warplanes 1,800 security contractors |  Ansar al-Sharia
* AQAP: 6,000–8,000

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 ISIL: 300 |
| Casualties and losses |
|
"Thousands" killed (per Al Jazeera; as of May 2018) 11,000+ killed (Arab Coalition claim; as of December 2017) | 1,000-3,000 soldiers killed
 10 captured; 3 aircraft lost;
 9 helicopters lost 20 M1A2S lost 1 frigate damaged
 Over 120 soldiers killed 3 aircraft lost 3 helicopters lost 1 watercraft damaged (HSV-2 *Swift*)  1,000–1,200 soldiers killed
 8 soldiers killed 1 F-16 crashed
 4 soldiers killed
 1 soldier killed 1 F-16 shot down
 1 F-16 lost
 Academi: 15 PMCs killed |  1,000 killed, 1,500 captured |
|
91,600+ killed overall in Yemen (11,700+ civilians) 500+ killed overall in Saudi Arabia 49,960 wounded overall in Yemen (10,768 civilians) 3,154,572 people displaced

84,701 children died from starvation (per Save the Children) and 2,556 people died due to a cholera outbreak (April 2017–October 2018) |

The **Yemeni Civil War** is an ongoing war that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies.

## Background

Both sides claim to constitute the official government of Yemen. Houthi forces currently controlling the capital Sanaʽa, allied with forces loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have clashed with the forces loyal to Hadi who are based in Aden. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have also carried out attacks, with AQAP controlling swathes of territory in the hinterlands, and along stretches of the coast. On 21 March 2015, after taking over Sanaʽa and the Yemeni government, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee declared a general mobilization to overthrow Hadi and expand their control by driving into southern provinces. The Houthi offensive, allied with military forces loyal to 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. At the same time, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia launched military operations by using air strikes to restore the former Yemeni government. The United States provided intelligence and logistical support for the campaign.

## Damages

According to the UN and other sources, from March 2015 to December 2017, between 8,670–13,600 people were killed in Yemen, including more than 5,200 civilians,. They estimated more than 50,000 have died as a result of an ongoing famine due to the war. With Iran suporting the Huthi and Saudi Arabia opposing them, the conflict has been widely seen as a proxy war and a means for Saudi Arabia to combat Iranian influence in the region.

## Starvation

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 international community sharply condemned the Saudi Arabian-led bombing campaign, which included widespread bombing of civilian areas. The bombing campaign has killed or injured an estimated 17,729 civilians as of March 2019 according to the Yemen Data Project. Despite this, the crisis gained less international media attention than the Syrian civil war. The US has been providing bombs to aid the Saudi forces and airstrikes in Yemen. In March 2019, this led the US senate to pass a resolution to end US support of Saudi Arabia. It was vetoed by President of the United States Donald Trump, and in May, the Senate failed to override the veto.

## Related pages

* List of ongoing armed conflicts