Why is Saudi Arabia attacking Yemen?

(By Yogita)

According to the UN Office for humanitarian coordination, over 23 million Yemenis face
hunger, disease, and other life-threatening risks as the country’s basic services and
economy is collapsing. There has been a constant war between the Saudi-led coalition and
a Yemenian rebel group called the Houthis for the last seven years. But the situation in
Yemen is worsening as the war became even more violent since the beginning of this year.
As per the UN estimates, more than 10,200 children are known to have been killed and
wounded as a direct consequence of the war.

History of the conflict

In 2011, due to a popular uprising in Yemen, then president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to
hand over the control to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Haidi.

After Mr. Haidi took over the throne as the president, he faced many challenges like the
terrorism by the jihadists, the worsening economic situation in Yemen, and the lack of loyalty
by the country’s military towards his government. The Houthis, taking advantage of his
weakness, formed a formal political party called “Ansar Allah”, which means the Partisans of
the God.
In early 2014, they seized control of the northern part of the country through the help of the
ousted president, Saleh.As they took over the Saadi province and the nation’s capital,
Sanna, Haidi and his cabinet by the houthis fled to Saudi Arabia.

In March 2015, Saudi led military interventions in Yemen began, with the goals of reversing
the Houthi military conquest of Yemen and restoring the Haidi government regime. The
alliance also received logistical and intelligence support from the US, UK, and France. The
Saudi led coalition through their air campaign drove the Houthis out of the south of Yemen
but could not remove them from Sanna or the north of the city.
The houthis partnered with the ex-president Saleh, formed a political council to govern the
area under their control. But in 2017, Saleh was killed by the Houthis when he ordered his
followers to fight against them.

In 2018, the Saleh followers joined the Saudi-led coalition and they jointly began a mission to
reoccupy the Red Sea City of Hudaydah. This continued for about six months after which
both the parties agreed for a truce.
In 2021, the Houthis again attacked the northern province of the country.

Current Catastrophe

The war between the Saudi led Coalition and the Houthis have turned out to be ‘the worst
humanitarian crisis’ in the world. Since the beginning of this year, the tensions between both
the parties are deepening even further. The houthis threw ballistic missiles and drones
targeting the oil depots in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Saudi led coalition also reverted
back with thousands of air strikes and killing tens of thousands of civilians.With both sides
accusing the other and putting allegations against each other, the worst sufferers who bear
the brunt of these devastating wars are the local people, children, and women.

References
1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-26/saudi-led-coalition-strikes-yem
en-after-aramco-fuel-depot-attack
2. https://unfoundation.org/what-we-do/issues/peace-human-rights-and-humanitarian-re
sponse/yemen-a-brief-background/
3. https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20220327-saudi-led-coalition-air-strikes-pu
mmel-yemen-despite-huthi-truce
4. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/29/gulf-states-to-hold-yemen-talks-despite-b
oycott-by-houthi-rebels
5. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114832
6. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114032