The war in Yemen since 2015
SANAA: A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to help the internationally recognised government confront Iran-backed rebels who had seized the capital Sanaa in bloody clashes months earlier.
Afterfierceclashesthisweekend in the “provisional capital” of Aden, here is a timeline of the conflict that has killed more than 9,200 people in the impoverished country, according to World Health Organisation figures. Operation launched In March 2015, a coalition of nine countries led by Riyadh begins an operation in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi with air strikes on the rebels, who control Sanaa and large swathes of northern, central and western Yemen.
In July, the embattled government announces it has retaken the southern province of Aden in its first success since the coalition stepped in.
The coalition supplements its air power with hundreds of ground troops and by mid-August 2015 loyalist forces have retaken five southern provinces. Carnage Over the following months the coalition is regularly criticised for errors during its air strikes that cause significant civilian casualties.
In September 2015, it is accused of hitting a wedding hall in the southwestern coastal town of Mokha in an air strike, killing 131 people. It denies responsibility.
And in October 2016, a coalition air strike at a funeral ceremony in Sanaa kills 140 people and wounds more than 500. Rebels kill former president Splits emerge in the rebel camp in 2017, resulting in the assassination of Hadi’s predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had stepped down in 2011 after ruling Yemen with an iron fist for nearly three decades.
The Huthis in August call Saleh a “traitor” when he dismisses the group as a “militia” in a speech.
Violence erupts between the former allies in November in Sanaa, killing and wounding dozens, and in December Saleh is killed by Huthi fighters. Missiles on Riyadh In November 2017, Huthi rebels fire a missile in the direction of the international airport in Riyadh.
Intercepted and destroyed, it is the first to reach the Saudi capital and enrages Saudi Arabia which accuses its arch-foe Iran of “blatant military aggression” through its support for the rebels.
Iran denies supplying weapons to the rebels.
The coalition closes Yemen’s borders, only partly easing the blockade later after warnings of the impact on desperately needed food and humanitarian aid deliveries.
In December, Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted another missile over Riyadh fired by the Huthis, who say the target was the official residence of King Salman.
In early January it says it intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen into the kingdom’s south that “proved” Iran’s support for the Huthis. Riyadh announces later in the month that it has intercepted other missiles.
Amid the outcry over the continuing blockade, the Saudi-led coalition in January announces humanitarian aid worth US$1.5 billion for Yemen. Aden ‘coup attempt’ On January 28, 2018, fierce clashes erupt in Aden between military units loyal to Hadi’s government and separatist security forces, who take over the government headquarters.
Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher accuses the separatists of attempting a coup and calls on the Saudi-led coalition to intervene. — AFP