Wars and Conflicts of Yemen (1914-Present) Saudi-Yemen War (1934)Saudi-Yemen Treaty of Taif (1934)Yemen Civil War (1962-1970)-- Egypt sent troops to support the Yemeni Republican government against Royalist rebels supported by Saudi Arabia.
South Yemen War of Independence (1963-1967)--Known to the British as the Aden Emergency. Britain granted independence to South Yemen in 1967.
Yemen War (1972)--Border war between the Republican nation of North Yemen, and the Marxist nation of South Yemen
Yemen War (1979)--Border war between the Republican nation of North Yemen, and the Marxist nation of South Yemen
South Yemen Civil War (1986)--Civil war among South Yemen's ruling Communist Party. This war left 5,000 dead, destroyed $500 million dollars worth of Soviet-supplied weaponry, and caused a major shift in leadership that eventually helped lead to unification with North Yemen in 1990
Yemen Civil War (1994)--The Marxist South Yemenis attempted to secede from the newly united Yemen. The government crushed the southern rebellion, leaving 10,000 dead.
Eritrean-Yemeni Border Conflict/Hanish Islands Conflict (1995)
Sa'dah (Houthi) Insurgency (2004-2014)---In 2004, the Sa'dah Insurgency began in the northwestern tip of Yemen, with the Islamic cleric Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the leader of the Shiite Zaidiyyah sect, launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. While the rebellion by the Shiite Zaidis (commonly to as the Houthis in reference to the name of the rebellion's founder), sputtered on and off for a decade or so, the political instability of the government in Sana'a led to an opportunity for the Houthi forces to seize the capital city and declare themselves as the new government of Yemen. This event (September 21, 2014), began a confusing period of poltical and military chaos that pitted various factions against each other. In March, 2015, the Houthis effectively turned the Houthi rebellion into a national civil war. (see below).
Yemeni Political Uprising (2011-2012)-Violent political transition/revolution that replaced long-time president Salah with the long-time vice-president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Hadi would serve as president until forced out of the capital by Houthi forces in March, 2015. Hadi leads one of the factions in the current Yemen Civil War.
Yemen Civil War (2015-Present)--With the Houthi seizure of the national capital of Sana'a, the multiple conflicts that had embroiled Yemen (political unrest in Sana'a, South Yemen secessionists, the Houthi war, the fight against al-Qaida and ISIS/ISIL jihadists, and the various foreign interventions) all coalesced into a complex, multi-faceted national civil war. The existing regime, led by President Hadi, was forced to flee Sana'a after the Houthis seized power (with assistance from an army faction loyal to former president Saleh) and declared themselves the legitimate government of Yemen. Hadi fled to the southern city of Aden, where, with aid from Saudi Arabia and other conservative Sunni Arab states, he wages war against the Houthis. The jihadist al-Qaida and ISIS factions in Yemen are fighting each other, as well as both the Houthis and the Hadi faction.
In 2017, Yemen was hit with a deadly cholera outbreak that has affected nearly one million Yemenis as the complex civil war and foreign intervention continues. In November, 2017, amid continuing airstrikes by the Saudis and their Sunni Arab coalition, the Houthis escalated their response by launching a ballistic missile at the King Khalid military airfield near the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Given the long-standing support of the Houthis by Iran, this escalation could have serious consequences throughout the region.
Links and Resources on Yemen Wars:
CIA Factbook on Country or conflict --Click on the country name (Yemen) at this site.
Southern Yemen totters dangerously on the edge of secession--Lebanon a Star, June 11, 2009
Security Incidents in Yemen, 1998--From the Al-bab website.
South Yemen New Thinking in a Marxist Land--Time Magazine, 1989
Tiny Voices Defy Child Marriage in Yemen--June 29, 2008
Massive protest in south Yemen--by Jane Novak, for the Long War Journal, May 27, 2008
Yemen's Intifada--by Jane Novak, for the Long War Journal, January 2, 2008
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