Civilians still in firing line as fighting escalates in Yemen

Despite five devastating years of war, neither Houthi rebels nor their Saudi adversaries are prepared to halt the fighting in Yemen.

The Houthis see themselves as defenders of Yemeni independence, the Saudis of the legitimacy of the government they sponsor. Since the Houthis still hold the north and rule the majority of the population, they are confident of victory.

As author of the stalemated, disastrous war, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman cannot afford to lose credibility by conceding defeat.

His Emirati counterpart and partner Mohammed bin Zayed withdrew his forces last year, but the Saudis retain the backing of and a continuous supply of arms from the US.

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Following a lull of several months, hostilities resumed in mid-January and they have escalated. The Houthis have captured northern al-Jawf's provincial capital al-Hazm, located close to the border with neighbouring oil-rich Marib province, and mounted attacks on bases of pro-government forces in the coastal Hodeida province.

Saudi warplanes have staged counter-attacks on Houthi positions in al-Jawf and conducted raids on the Houthi-held port of Salif in Hodeida.

On a visit to Marib last weekend, United Nations envoy Martin Griffiths called for "an immediate and unconditional freeze" of hostilities. Yemen is "at a critical juncture: we will either silence the guns and resume the political process, or we will slip back into large-scale conflict," he said as tens of thousands of civilians fled al-Jawf.

Combatants

“Fighting needs to stop now. Military adventurism and the quest for territorial gains are futile,” he argued. The combatants “will only drag Yemen into many more years of conflict”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Yemeni Red Crescent have provided food, tents, blankets and hygiene kits for al-Jawf’s 70,000 displaced. Ongoing hostilities have, however, hampered relief efforts.

The ICRC's regional director, Fabrizio Carboni, said: "In a country where barely half of the health facilities are functioning, this [uptick in fighting] is very worrying. We remind all parties to the conflict that access for health personnel is essential and that facilities must be kept open and never targeted during military operations. Medical staff, ambulances and health facilities must be always protected."

Angered over the mishandling of the post-Arab Spring transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the Houthis drove Yemen's interim government from the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Intervened

Claiming the Shia Houthis are backed by regional rival Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia and the Emirates intervened in March 2015 with the aim of restoring to power president Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi.

Although internationally recognised as Yemen’s president, his legitimacy has expired. In 2014 he was elected unopposed to a two-year term which was extended until 2015. He resides in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and rarely visits Aden, temporary capital of his government.

According to the UN, Yemen, which is the region’s poorest country, is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Out of a population of 28 million, 24 million – half of them children – are in need of international assistance.

At least 100,000 Yemenis have died from violence and 85,000 from malnutrition and disease, and 3.6 million have been displaced.

So far, no cases of coronavirus have been reported in Yemen, where the introduction of another deadly disease could further devastate a population already suffering from cholera, dengue fever, malaria and water-borne ailments.