In Yemen, the political unrest (which began escalating in 2011) rapidly became a major issue for the newly appointed minister of defence, with Houthis taking control of northern Yemen in late 2014, followed by President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and his cabinet's resignation. Bin Salman's first move as minister was to mobilise a pan-GCC coalition to intervene following a series of suicide bombings in Sana'a via air strikes against Houthis, and impose a naval blockade. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia began leading a coalition of countries allied against the Houthi rebels. While there was agreement among those Saudi princes heading security services regarding the necessity of a response to the Houthis' seizure of Sana'a, which had forced the Yemeni government into exile, bin Salman launched the intervention without full coordination across security services. Saudi National Guard minister Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, who was out of the country, was left out of the loop of operations. While bin Salman sold the war as a quick win on Houthi rebels in Yemen and a way to put President Hadi back in power, however, it became a long war of attrition.