Is the war in Yemen nearing its end?
Useful summary
Yemen suffered continuous civil wars 60 years ago. In the north, religious currents were dominant, while in the south, a Marxist secular system prevailed. The two sides clashed, leading to civil wars in 1972 and 1979. Subsequently, a series of failed Yemeni governments emerged during the 1970s and 1980s, and the country plunged into another civil war in 1994. Meanwhile, the Zaydis, a religious sect comprising 40 percent of Yemen’s population, felt that the government was neglecting their conditions.
When the so-called “Arab Spring” emerged in 2011, the Zaydi group, or more accurately the Houthis, were emboldened. They established their own mini-state in Saada, northern Yemen, complete with executive bodies, schools, and a special police force. They went further, demanding changes to the Yemeni government, and showed no regard for the human and material losses resulting from their reckless actions.
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In 2015, the Houthis rejected a draft constitution proposing a federal system for Yemen, arguing that the proposed system would grant them a region with scarce resources and no access to the sea, while also depriving them of government positions. They took up arms against the government, seized the capital, Sana’a, forcing the legitimate government to relocate to Aden. They then moved to control other cities, prompting the Yemeni president to seek assistance from neighboring countries. Saudi Arabia formed a coalition that included some Arab forces, which participated in battles against the Houthis.
The Houthis subsequently seized the cities of Saada and Taiz, threatened navigation in the Red Sea, and launched missiles at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They rejected peace rounds and occupied western Yemen across an area spanning 200 kilometers in width and 300 kilometers in length. As a result of this war, Yemenis have suffered catastrophes: thousands have died, many homes have been destroyed, and many live in misery, facing food shortages or famine.
The Houthis have continued using drones to bomb cities in Saudi Arabia and have rejected Saudi peace initiatives. Thus, it becomes clear that Gulf countries are nations that desire peace, whereas the Houthi group is an ignorant, foolish gang that desires no good for its own country or for Arabs, and receives support from Iran.
As American pressure on Tehran intensified, Iran urged the Houthis to escalate pressures in the Red Sea if the United States expanded its military operations against Iran.
Iran did not stop there; it tasked allied militias in Iran and Iraq with launching missiles and drones against Gulf states, causing material and human damage to them.
The Yemeni government is currently fighting them. A Yemeni military analyst stated: “The battles against the Houthis have begun, and their ranks have collapsed. The current opportunity is very favorable and crucial for launching a continuous military operation that will proceed until Sana’a is reached. It is unacceptable for the fighting to stop, given that it has erupted on all fronts against the Houthis. If the fighting approaches the gates of Sana’a, the city will rise from within against the Houthi militia. The Yemeni government forces possess all the tools of land and air power, and they must continue with strength in this battle, while the Houthis are now collapsing, until their morale breaks. Perhaps we will celebrate victory this month in Sana’a.”
