“The war in Yemen is not a war

that we wanted. We had no other option – there was a radical militia allied with Iran and Hezbollah that took over the country.”

–Adel al-Jubeir

The Yemeni Civil war that started in 2015 was between two factions, the Houthi forces and those loyal to the government of AbdRabbo Mansour Hadi, fighting over who would constitute as the legitimate government. Its neighbour, Saudi Arabia was only going to tolerate the advance of the Houthi forces for so long and so, decided to launch a military operation back in 2015. However, the problem is not limited to the civil unrest but also extends to the presence of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS) who carry out sectarian violence and have killed thousands of people over the course of the two years the conflict has started.

The operation, called the Operation Decisive Storm, was widely criticised by many countries over the world due to the fact that it worsened the humanitarian conditions in Yemen. The UN declared the conflict a level three emergency zone, the highest level, for a period of six months. Many health centers, schools and homes were destroyed in air strikes and left 78 percent of the population of Yemen in dire need of food, medical aid and water. More than 2,500,000 people have been displaced and leaving over 10,000 dead over the years. The entire issue remains poorly publicised and many over the world are not aware of the situation the people went and are going through to this day. A little more attention needs to be paid to the issue to bring back stability in Yemen.