Houthi conflict

Houthi conflict

Ranges in Yemen (2015)

Controlled by the Houthi

Controlled by followers of Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi

Controlled by the Southern Movement

Controlled by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

Controlled by the Islamic State

Controlled by local forces

date	June 2004 to ongoing
place	Yemen
Casus Belli	Conflict between Zaidi - Shiite clerics and the Yemeni government
output	Constantly

Parties to the conflict
Yemen pro-government tribes Saudi Arabia alleged: Jordan Morocco Pakistan United States	Houthis alleged: Iran ( al-Quds unit ) Hezbollah
Commander
Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar Ali Mohammed Mujur Amr Ali Musa al-Uuzali Ali Salem al-Ameri Ahmed Bawazeir Salman ibn Abd al-Aziz Chalid ibn Sultan Saleh al-Muhaya	Ali Abdullah Salih † Hussein Badreddin al-Huthi Abdul-Malik al-Huthi Yahia Badreddin al-Huthi Abdul-Karim al-Huthi Badr Eddin al-Huthi Abdullah al-Ruzami # Yusuf al-Madani Mohammad Abd al-Salam
Troop strength
Yemen : 30,000 in scene 66,700 total 3,000 tribal warriors Saudi Arabia: 199,500 Total Allies: Jordan: 2,000	2,000-10,000 rebels
losses
Yemen: approx. 10,000 civilians killed 6,000 wounded 2,200–2,800 soldiers killed 8,000 wounded 217 captured (117 released) Saudi Arabia: 133 killed 470 injured 6 missing or prisoners of war	3,700-5,500 rebels and allies killed (including 187 children)

The Houthi conflict is a civil war in Yemen . It began in June 2004 with the uprising of the Houthi , a politico-military movement of the Zaidis , a Shiite movement led by their religious and political leader Hussein Badreddin al-Huthi , against the Yemeni government.

history

In the summer of 2004, the Yemeni government tried to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Huthi, a Zaidi-Shiite religious head of the Shabab al-Mu'mines (Youth of Believers) and former parliamentarian. This was followed by fighting against the armed Houthi group. Hussein al-Huthi was killed in September 2004 after a three-month rebellion. The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih granted amnesty to the imprisoned followers (over 600 people) of the Shiite preacher on September 25, 2005; however, later there were new arrests and convictions, including death sentences .

The Yemeni government claimed in 2008 that the Houthis were out to overthrow them and establish Shiite (religious) law. The rebels countered that they were "defending their community against discrimination and government aggression". The Yemeni government had accused Iran of leading and financing the uprising.

In August 2009, the Yemeni army launched the Operation Scorched Earth offensive against Shiite rebels in Sa'ada province . Hundreds of thousands of people fled the fighting. The conflict took on international dimensions when clashes between northern rebels and Saudi security forces broke out along the border on November 4th. The Saudis then launched an anti-Houthi offensive. Houthi leaders claim US involvement in the war began on December 14, when the US Air Force carried out a total of 28 attacks.

After a ceasefire in February 2010, the clashes flared up again. Much of the fighting took place in Sa'da Governorate in northwestern Yemen; others in the neighboring governorates of Hajjah , Amrān and al-Jauf and the Saudi province of Jazan .

In February 2015, the Houthi militias officially took power over Yemen and dissolved parliament. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia launched an offensive against them in coordination with Egypt .

On April 14, 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2216, which was tabled by Jordan, by 14 votes in favor and Russia abstaining. This imposes an arms embargo on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, as well as account freezes and travel restrictions against Abdul-Malik al-Huthi and Ali Abdullah Salih . In addition, the Security Council calls for the withdrawal from the occupied territories.

background

The slogan used by the Houthi movement since 2004 condemns Jews , wishes death to the USA and Israel, and evokes the greatness of Allah and the victory of Islam.

In 1962, a revolution in the Kingdom of Yemen, supported by the then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser , ended the thousand-year rule of the Shiite-Zaidi imams , who traced their descent to the prophet of Islam , Mohammed . Sa'da , in the north of the country, was their stronghold. Since the fall, the region has been largely ignored economically and has remained underdeveloped. The Yemeni central government had little influence in Sa'da.

During the civil war of 1994 , the Wahhabis ruling in Saudi Arabia helped the government in its fight against the secessionist south .

In 2009, the predominantly Sunni government of Yemen and Shiite fighters faced each other in the conflict. The latter were or are allegedly supported by Iran , which worries many governments in Arab countries.

Houthi fighters have accused Yemenis and Saudis of allying themselves with al-Qaeda. In an interview (2009), Yahya al-Huthi, a Yemeni refugee and brother of the Houthi insurgent leader Abdul-Malik al-Huthi , said the Yemeni government was recruiting al-Qaeda terrorists to fight the Houthis.

Local sources have also reported that jihadist veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan had reported to the Yemeni military to fight Houthis.

In addition to the political structures, traditional tribal structures play a major role in Yemen; In addition, the aggressive and terrorist behavior of the “ Islamic state ” in the country is rated as a new level of escalation.

Foreign participation

Iran and Lebanon

Both the Saudi and Yemeni governments accuse Iran of secretly transporting weapons across the Red Sea. In October 2009, the Yemeni Navy reportedly intercepted an Iranian ship that was carrying weapons. Yemen's state-controlled press claimed that Houthi rebels were being trained across the Red Sea - in an Iran-run camp in Eritrea . Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh claimed members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia from Lebanon were teaching them. The Yemeni authorities claimed that the longtime leader of the Houthi rebels, Hussein al-Huthi (killed in 2004), used to visit Qom , one of the holiest cities in Shiite Iran. None of these allegations were confirmed by independent observers until 2009, and the Iranian government denies any involvement.

In 2012, US and Indian officials confirmed that not only phone calls between smugglers and the Iranian al-Quds unit regarding the supply of Kalashnikovs and RPGs had been intercepted, but that deliveries had also been intercepted. Smuggling explosives is also said to have been attempted.

In 2015, however, Spiegel Online referred in an article to unspecified "experts" who "doubt [...] that Iran actually has any significant influence on the rebels", whereby influence and support are not to be equated.

In February 2016, an Iranian dhow was seized by the Australian frigate Darwin , which was supposed to smuggle thousands of Kalashnikovs and dozens of RPG-7s from Iran to the Houthis. In January 2013, a dhow coming from Iran was intercepted with Chinese MANPADS , RPG-7s, ammunition for Kalashnikovs and plastic explosives .

Saudi Arabia

→ Main article : Military intervention in Yemen since 2015

After years of political chaos and violence in Yemen, the Houthi rebels advanced on the capital Sanaa in the summer of 2014 , reached it in September 2014, captured it with the support of anti-central government tribes and unhindered by the military loyal to the Salih with the de facto capture of the city also de facto deposed the central government. In early 2015, the Gulf Cooperation Council threatened the Houthi militias with measures to protect the Arabian Peninsula. Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi , who resigned as Yemeni President in January 2015, fled to Aden at the beginning of February 2015 , but revoked his resignation on the day his term of office expired and declared Aden the state capital. While Hadi tried to preserve the legitimacy of the international community and to bring the money that the international community invested in the political transition process to Aden, the Houthis tried to consolidate power in Sanaa and to build a state, for which they Aden wanted to conquer in order to politically eliminate Hadi and gain legitimacy to the outside world.

After the Houthi militia captured 9 of the country's 21 provinces, the situation worsened in March 2015. Saudi Arabia tried to deter the rebels from pursuing their goals. After Aden, as the interim capital proclaimed by Hadi, threatened to fall to the rebels, a Saudi-led military alliance intervened militarily and began a military intervention with air strikes in Yemen on March 26, 2015. At the same time, at the end of March 2015, Hadi fled from the Houthis advancing against Aden to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, from where he mobilized support against the Houthis and tried to continue to rule in exile. In order to pool the military forces, the Islamic military coalition was formed in December 2015 under the leadership of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Air Force and its allies carried out more than 19,000 attacks in Yemen between March 2015 and March 2019.

Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan

• Reports of Jordanian involvement were first published by the Iranian Arab newspaper Sada-Najdhejaz on November 21, 2009. The newspaper claimed that Jordanian commandos from the Saudi "Tabuk Military Base" followed Houthis to northern Yemen and fought them there. Jordan would also provide relief units to support the Saudi and Yemeni military. It is estimated that Jordan has 2,000 soldiers stationed in Yemen.
• The Moroccan commitment became known in December 2009. It has been estimated that hundreds of elite Moroccan troops, mostly paratroopers and commandos trained in counterinsurgency operations , were sent to Yemen to support the Yemeni-Saudi offensive against the Houthis.
• Informed politicians, as well as the Pakistani daily Jang , reported that Pakistan had deployed a unit of 300 special forces in Yemen to support the fight against the Houthis.

USA and Germany

As early as December 2009, the United States provided the Yemeni government with weapons and logistical support. These served to fight alleged hiding places of the radical Zaidite Houthi rebels. Badreddin Huthi made a statement claiming that modern jet fighter jets and bombers were used against Yemeni fighters in the US offensive.

In November 2013, the German government defended its billion-dollar arms exports to Saudi Arabia. The country has a stabilizing function in the region.

Humanitarian Impact

→ Main article : Humanitarian aspects of the military intervention in Yemen since 2015

→ Main article : Cholera in Yemen since 2016

In April 2008, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the conflict had created 77,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the northern Saada region.

Cholera broke out during the war in Yemen in September 2016. Due to the situation in the country, this outbreak developed into the worst cholera epidemic in world history with over 1.4 million suspected and more than 2,780 deaths.

Use of child soldiers

Businesseurope and Islamic Relief -Worldwide reported the abuse of children by the Houthi rebels as child soldiers . In November 2009, over 400 children went to the UNDP office in Sana'a to protest Houthi abuse of children's rights.

See also

• Military intervention in Yemen since 2015
• List of ongoing wars and conflicts

Web links

• Armed Conflict in Northern Yemen (HRW)
• Timeline: Yemen (BBC)
• YEMEN: The conflict in Saada Governorate - analysis , IRIN , July 24, 2008
• “Yemen A Microcosmos of the Middle East”, The Omer Gendler Watch (August 25, 2009) - blog
• Profiles: Yemen's Houthi fighters ( al-Jazeera )

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Government reinforces army to eradicate Houthis
2. ↑ Jordanian commandos join war on Houthi fighters. In: Press TV . November 21, 2009, archived from the original on November 23, 2009 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Pedro Canales: Marruecos y Jordania envían tropas de élite para ayudar a los saudíes en Yemen. In: El Imparcial . Retrieved December 3, 2009, December 29, 2009 (Spanish). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Press TV Pakistan joins was against Houthis in Yemen: Report ( Memento from January 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), January 27, 2009
5. ↑ ^{a b c} US fighter jets attack Yemeni fighters. (No longer available online.) Press TV , November 21, 2009, archived from the original on May 23, 2012 ; accessed on December 29, 2009 . 
6. ↑ Olivier Guitta: Iran and Saudi Arabia drawn to Yemen. Asia Times Online, November 11, 2009; accessed November 15, 2009 . 
7. ↑ Jane Novak: Yemen's Internal Shia Jihad. (No longer available online.) Global Politician, March 21, 2007, archived from the original on October 17, 2012 ; accessed on May 23, 2008 . 
8. ↑ February 2010
9. ↑ ^{a b} presstv.com
10. ↑ Arrabyee-2007
11. ↑ ^{a b} Center for Strategic and International Studies The Middle East Military Balance (PDF; 704 kB), 2005
12. ↑ ^{a b} Pity those caught in the middle. In: The Economist , November 19, 2009.
13. ^ Yemeni Authorities Set Conditions for Ending Military Operations in Sa'ada. In: Yemen Post. Retrieved November 9, 2009 . 
14. ↑ Ahmed al-Hajj: Clashes in Yemen Kill More Than 100. Fox News , February 19, 2007, accessed December 29, 2009 . 
15. ^ Yemeni military battles Shi'ite rebels. In: The Age . March 20, 2007, accessed December 29, 2009 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c} plowshares 1
17. ↑ Rebel video 'shows Yemeni POWs'. In: BBC News . September 2, 2009, accessed November 9, 2009 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} February 2010
19. ^ ^{A b} Heavy Saudi casualties in war with Houthis. (No longer available online.) In: Press TV . March 20, 2007, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on December 29, 2009 . 
20. ↑ 187 children killed in Yemen, report says
21. ↑ Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque. In: BBC News . May 2, 2008, accessed May 23, 2008 . 
22. ↑ Gregory D. Johnsen: Yemen Accuses Iran of Meddling in its Internal Affairs Archived from the original on June 16, 2007. (PDF) In: Terrorism Focus . 4, No. 2, February 20, 2007, pp. 3-4. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
23. ↑ Houthi militia announce takeover of power in Yemen. In: Zeit Online . February 7, 2015, accessed March 27, 2015 . 
24. ^ Rainer Hermann: Saudi Arabia could come too late. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , March 26, 2015.
25. ↑ Security Council Demands End to Yemen Violence, Adopting Resolution 2216 (2015), with Russian Federation Abstaining. In: United Nations . April 14, 2015, accessed April 14, 2015 . 
26. ↑ Marianus Hundhammer: Yemeni Civil War . In: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik , volume 2009, issue 7, pp. 15-18, here p. 16.
27. ↑ ^{a b} Profile: Yemen's Houthi fighters. In: Al Jazeera . July 12, 2009, accessed December 22, 2009 . 
28. ↑ Yemeni gov, deal with al-Qaeda to crush Shia fighters. (No longer available online.) Shabestan News Agency, October 28, 2009, archived from the original on November 12, 2014 ; accessed on December 29, 2009 . 
29. ↑ Abdul-Aziz Oudah: Parliament discusses Sa'ada War. (No longer available online.) In: Yemen Today . November 24, 2009, formerly in the original ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
30. ↑ Nasser Arrabyee: Yahya Al Houthi put on trial in absentia. In: Gulf News . October 26, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2019 . 
31. ^ Saudi, al-Qaeda support Yemen crackdown on Shias. Press TV , August 29, 2009, accessed December 29, 2009 . 
32. ^ Al-Qaeda Fighting for Yemeni Government Against Houthi Shia Rebels ... December 29, 2009, accessed February 1, 2010 . 
33. ^ Günter Meyer : More than a proxy war In: Deutschlandfunk , March 29, 2015 (interview with Wolfgang Koczian).
34. ↑ Ariela Groß: "Original local conflict" In Deutschlandfunk , March 28, 2015 (interview with Jürgen Liminski ).
35. ↑ Eric Schmitt, Robert Forsyth Worth: With Arms for Yemen Rebels, Iran Seeks Wider Mideast Role. In: The New York Times . March 15, 2012, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
36. ^ Bruce Riedel : Houthi victories in Yemen make Saudi Arabia nervous. In: Al Monitor. October 15, 2014, accessed on September 21, 2019 . 
37. ↑ ^{a b} "Aden is a ghost town" In: Spiegel Online . April 6, 2015.
38. ↑ ^{a b} "Aden is a ghost town". In: Zeit Online . April 6, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
39. ↑ Christopher John Chivers, Eric Schmitt: Arms Seized Off Coast of Yemen Appear to Have Been Made in Iran In: The New York Times , January 10, 2017, accessed November 19, 2018.
40. ↑ Robert Forsyth Worth, Christopher John Chivers: Seized Chinese Weapons Raise Concerns on Iran In: The New York Times , March 2, 2013, accessed November 19, 2018.
41. ↑ Yemen is sinking into chaos ( memento from April 13, 2015 on WebCite ) , inforadio.de, April 12, 2015, by Mareike Transfeld.
42. ↑ ^{a b c} Who are the Houthis? In: tagesschau.de . March 29, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
43. ↑ Sandra Stalinski: "The danger of attacks is growing". In: tagesschau.de . March 26, 2015, accessed on September 21, 2019 (interview with Guido Steinberg ). 
44. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Steffe: The actors in the chaos of Yemen. In: tagesschau.de . March 15, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
45. ↑ Russia calls for the air strikes in Yemen to be suspended. In: Deutsche Welle . April 4, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
46. ↑ ^{a b c} Georg Meggle : Why war against Yemen now? In: Telepolis . April 9, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
47. ^ ^{A b c} Mareike Transfeld: Saudi Arabia's air strikes continue to destabilize Yemen. In: Science and Politics Foundation . March 31, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
48. ^ Mareike Transfeld: How Saudi Arabia destabilizes Yemen. In: Handelsblatt . April 5, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
49. ↑ Teresa Eder: Yemen expert: "Al-Qaeda will most likely benefit from the conflict". In: The Standard . April 13, 2015, accessed on September 21, 2019 (interview with Marie-Christine Heinze). 
50. ↑ ^{a b} Dirk Müller: "Already a failed state" In: Deutschlandfunk , March 26, 2015 (interview with Mareike Transfeld).
51. ↑ No help possible. In: Nordwest-Zeitung . May 6, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
52. ↑ Pakistan does not take part in air strikes. In: Handelsblatt . April 10, 2015, accessed September 21, 2019 . 
53. ^ "DEATH FROM ABOVE - Every Saudi coalition air raid on Yemen." In: Al Jazeera , March 25, 2019 (English).
54. ↑ Thom Shanker, Mark Landler: US Aids Yemeni Raids on Al Qaeda, Officials Say. In: The New York Times . Retrieved December 18, 2009 . 
55. ↑ Vanessa Steinmetz: Federal government defends arms exports to Saudi Arabia. In: Spiegel Online , November 20, 2013.
56. ^ Rebel leader calls for international aid. In: The New Humanitarian . May 6, 2008, accessed May 23, 2008 . 
57. ↑ Saudi king visits area of ​​Yemen border conflict. al-Arabiya , December 2, 2009, archived from the original on December 19, 2009 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . 
58. ↑ 10,000 houses for Jazan displaced. In: Arab News . December 3, 2009, accessed December 29, 2009 . 
59. ↑ Saudi king orders construction of 10,000 houses for displaced people in south. Kuwait News Agency , December 2, 2009, archived from the original September 19, 2011 ; Retrieved December 29, 2009 . 
60. ↑ CHOLERA SITUATION IN YEMEN. (PDF) December 2018. WHO , accessed February 1, 2019 . 
61. ^ Issue of child soldiers raised in Yemen
62. ^ Yemen child soldier tells of his hatred for al-Houthi rebels
63. ↑ Yemen children renews protest al-Houthi-related child abuse. ( Memento from January 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )