2015 Mar 201- |
Clashes escalated between pro and anti-Huthis allied with security forces loyal to Mr Saleh, who was thought to have backed his erstwhile enemies in a bid to regain power. Southerners took to arms and formed resistance to further advance their cause for independence by fighting in order to defend their territory from northern control and a coup of the legitimate government. President Hadi was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia in March. He appealed to Gulf and Arab states to intervene militarily.
A Saudi Arabian-led military coalition of Arab states backed by the United States launched air strikes against the Huthi armed group positions in Sana'a and Sa'da with ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh in support of Hadi's government.
The Islamic State carried out its first major attacks in Yemen, two suicide bombings targeting Shia mosques in Sana'a in which 137 people were killed. Houthi rebels started to advance towards southern Yemen and it was at that point that President Hadi fled to Aden. The Saudi-led coalition of Gulf Arab states launched air strikes against Houthi targets and imposed a naval blockade on Aden.
Over the next six months the conflict spread across Yemen.
In the southern part of the country, the United Arab Emirates, which was part of the Saudi-led coalition, set up its own security forces, running virtually a state-within-a-state and fuelling the south's independence movement.
The Houthis were dislodged from most of the south, but remained in control of Sana'a and much of the north.
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Yemen, Recent history; `Alí `Abdu'lláh Saleh; Sanaa, Yemen; Aden, Yemen; Yemen |
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