Хути босогчид болон Саудын Арабын дэмжлэгтэй Засгийн газрын хүчин хоорондын мөргөлдөөн хурцдаж, олон зуун хүний амь нас хохирон, олон мянган иргэн дүрвэжээ.
Йемен улсад Хути босогчид болон Засгийн газрын цэргийн хооронд олон жилийн турш үргэлжилж буй иргэний дайн дахин идэвхжиж, сүүлийн жилүүдэд гараагүй томоохон тулаан өрнөж байна. Өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт Хути босогчид Баб-эль-Мандебийн хоолойг хяналтдаа авах зорилгоор баруун эрэгт өргөн хүрээтэй довтолгоо эхлүүлсний дараа Засгийн газрын хүчин Санаа хотыг эргүүлэн авах ажиллагаагаа зарлалаа. Мягмар гарагт Хути босогчид Саудын Арабын газрын тосны байгууламжууд руу пуужингаар цохилт өгсний улмаас 73 хүн гэмтэж, томоохон түймэр гарсан бол хариуд нь Саудын Араб 12 цагийн дотор 50 гаруй удаагийн агаарын цохилт өгчээ.
Энэхүү мөргөлдөөн нь Газын зурвас дахь дайн эхэлснээс хойш бүс нутагт үүссэн геополитикийн хурцадмал байдлын нэг хэсэг болон өргөжлөө. Хути босогчид Газын ард иргэдийг дэмжиж буйгаа илэрхийлэн Улаан тэнгис дэх усан онгоцуудыг онилж эхэлсэн нь АНУ-ын цэргийн оролцоог нэмэгдүүлж, НҮБ-ын зуучлалтай 2022 оны энхийн хэлэлцээрийг гацаанд оруулсан байна. Иран улс Ормузын хоолойг хаасны дараа Улаан тэнгис нь Саудын Арабын газрын тос экспортлох гол гарц болсон тул Баб-эль-Мандебийн хоолойн хяналт нь бүс нутгийн стратегийн чухал ач холбогдолтой болоод байна.
Дайн дахин хурцдаж эхэлснээс хойш 1,000 орчим хүн амь үрэгдэж, бэртэж гэмтсэн тухай Дэлхийн эрүүл мэндийн байгууллага мэдээлэв. 2014 оноос хойш үргэлжилж буй энэ мөргөлдөөний улмаас 150,000 гаруй хүн амь насаа алдаж, 4.5 сая хүн орон гэрээсээ дүрвэсэн бөгөөд 18.2 сая гаруй иргэнд хүмүүнлэгийн тусламж нэн шаардлагатай байна. Ирантай холбоотой Хути босогчид болон Саудын Арабын дэмжлэгтэй Засгийн газрын хоорондын энэхүү ширүүн тэмцэл нь АНУ-Ираны сөргөлдөөнийг улам бүр өргөжүүлэх аюултай байна.
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Violence has erupted once again in Yemen, killing and wounding around 1,000 people and displacing tens of thousands. It is the most significant fighting between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces in years.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have targeted each other with air, missile and drone strikes, threatening to open another front in the US-Iran war. At stake is the balance of power in Yemen, as well as another waterway critical to global shipping.
Though the immediate catalyst for the fighting has been the US-Iran war, it stems from years of conflict in Yemen itself.
Who are the warring parties in Yemen’s civil war and who are their backers?
The two main parties fighting in Yemen’s civil war are the Yemeni government forces and their allies, and the Houthi rebel movement. Yemen’s government controls the north-eastern part of the country, as well as its southern port. The government is the internationally-recognised authority in the country, but is chiefly backed by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab countries who intervened on behalf of the government during Yemen’s civil war.
The Saudi-led coalition, in addition to supporting the Yemeni government forces, directly intervenes militarily in the country, mainly through a campaign of airstrikes.
The government’s control of the country is contested by the Houthi rebels, who hold the western part of the country, including its capital. The Shia group is broadly aligned with Iran and comprises part of the so-called axis of resistance, a coalition of Iran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East such as Hezbollah. But while the group is aligned ideologically with Iran, which supplies some arms shipments, the Houthis are considered an independent group with their own policies.
A variety of smaller armed groups are also active in the country.
How did the war in Yemen begin?
The civil war in Yemen began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sana’a after popular protests against the then president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been in power for 33 years. A year later, the Houthis captured Sana’a and Salaa’s successor, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, fled to Saudi Arabia.
A coalition of mostly Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia then intervened on behalf of the Yemeni government, with a mostly aerial campaign that was widely criticised for its devastating effect on the civilians of Yemen.
The Yemeni government declared the southern port city of Aden to be its temporary capital, while the Houthis continued to maintain their control over Sana’a and much of the rest of north-west Yemen.
The government-aligned side of the civil war was made up of a multiplicity of groups that fractured over the course of the war, primarily along the lines of their two chief backers: Saudi Arabia, which backed the Yemeni government itself, and the United Arab Emirates, which mainly supported the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and the Joint Forces.
The war led to a fracturing of the country, with al-Qaida seizing territory in east Yemen, and separatist groups such as the STC pushing for division of the country. The Saudi-led coalition also brought foreign mercenaries into the conflict.
Frontlines hardened and the war ground to a deadlock. The Saudi-led coalition’s intervention was becoming increasingly unpopular internationally and had not led to the defeat of the Houthis. Weary of fighting, warring parties agreed to a temporary UN-mediated truce in 2022. The truce was extended twice, and calm largely held across the country until this September.
Why has the UN-brokered peace plan broken down?
The UN peace plan has been strained since the war in Gaza started on 7 October 2023. Israel launched the war in response to a Hamas-led attack in Israel that killed around 1,200 people. Israel’s war in Gaza, which killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and earned widespread condemnation for what a UN committee called genocide, drew the axis of resistance into the fray.
The Houthis, in what it said was a move of solidarity with the people of Gaza, began targeting ships in the Red Sea that it said were heading for Israel. The western coast of Yemen occupies a strategic position for global shipping, as it overlooks Bab al-Mandab, a strait that links the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The Houthi campaign brought in a US military intervention and strained the truce in Yemen. At the same time, its intervention brought the Houthis support regionally and within the territory they hold.
With the Houthis position strengthened, the group stopped seriously engaging in negotiations, frustrating Saudi Arabia.
In July, an Iranian plane landed in Sana’a airport, over the protests of the Yemeni government, leading Saudi Arabia to strike the airport. The Houthis then declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea – a key route for Saudi oil since Iran closed the strait of Hormuz in March.
Why did fighting start again last week?
Last week the Houthis launched a broad-ranging offensive to take parts of the western coast of Yemen to gain a more strategic position over Bab al-Mandab. Fighting then broke out across multiple fronts in Yemen as the Saudi-backed government forces tried to re-consolidate its position, with clashes starting in al-Jawf, al-Baydaa, Taiz and Hodeida.
The Yemeni government forces subsequently released a statement saying they were launching their own campaign to try to re-take Sana’a from the Houthis.
The Houthis launched missile strikes on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, injuring 73 people and setting huge blazes in Saudi oil installations. Saudi Arabia then launched more than 50 airstrikes on Yemen in a 12-hour period on Wednesday.
It was the most significant fighting in the country since the UN-brokered peace plan in 2022.
What has been the humanitarian impact of the war?
The war in Yemen, and the Saudi-led coalition aerial campaign in particular, has devastated the country’s population. At least 150,000 people have been killed since 2014 by fighting alone, while hundreds of thousands more have died from related causes such as hunger and diseases. About 4.5 million people have been displaced by fighting and more than 18.2 million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
The new round of renewed fighting has further exacerbated humanitarian conditions. The World Health Organization said the latest clashes have killed or wounded more than 1,000 people and displaced tens of thousands.
Why is Bab al-Mandaeb emerging as a new flashpoint in the region?
Bab al-Mandab is critical waterway for global shipping, with about 10% of global maritime trade passing through the strait. The waterway has only become more important since the US started its war with Iran and the latter closed the strait of Hormuz.
The Red Sea, via Bab al-Mandab, has become a vital lifeline for Saudi Arabia to export its oil with the strait of Hormuz closed. If the Houthis gained control over the strait, the group would be able to virtually close shipping through the waterway, or charge tolls. It would give Iran and its allies control over two key shipping lanes in the region.
