In late March, Saudi-led forces began
an offensive in Yemen against the Houthi rebel group, which has taken
over large portions of the country. Though it is the poorest country in
the Middle East, Yemen is of outsize importance to crucial players like
Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United States.
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The Saudi-led Offensive
The Saudi-led airstrikes crippled Yemen’s
Houthi-controlled air force, but have so far failed to halt Houthi
expansion on the ground. Military operations have severely limited
humanitarian assistance in Yemen, a nation already burdened with
hundreds of thousands of refugees. “The country seems to be on the verge
of total collapse,” said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high
commissioner for human rights.
Confirmed Saudi-led airstrikes, March 26 to April 1
The Houthis’ Drive South
The Houthis’ Drive South
Originally from Saada Province, the
Houthis practice a variant of Shiite Islam and receive support from
Iran. In January, the Houthis overran the capital, Sana, forcing
president Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi to resign. Since then, they have
continued pushing south, and this week began pressing on the port of
Aden, where Mr. Hadi and forces still allied with him had taken refuge.
Houthis control or have influence [darker regions]
Houthis are able to operate [lighter regions]
Houthis are able to operate [lighter regions]
Years of American Involvement
Yemen is home to one of Al Qaeda’s most
active branches, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Since 2009, the
United States has carried out at least 100 airstrikes in Yemen,
according to an analysis by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism,
which has done a detailed analysis of strikes there.
Al
Qaeda is not the only terrorist group operating in Yemen. Last week,
the Islamic State claimed responsibility for bombings at two Shiite
mosques in Sana that killed more than 135 people. The presence of ISIS
could drive Yemen into a “full-blown sectarian conflict,” said Katherine
Zimmerman, an analyst for the American Enterprise Institute. “What ISIS
wants to do is to recreate in Yemen the sectarian war its predecessor,
Al Qaeda in Iraq, stoked there.”
Historical Divisions
South Yemen was a separate country until
1990. The northwest, an area historically called Yemen, is mostly
Shiite. The southeast, known as Hadramawat, is home to a mostly Sunni
population. “Yemen and the Hadramawat have seldom been part of the same
political entity in the past and have maintained separate identities for
a long time,” said Michael Izady, a historian and cultural geographer
who has mapped ethnicity and religion for Columbia University.
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