At the end of the Arabian peninsula sits a nation few have ever heard of — Yemen. For too long, it has been overshadowed by its oil-rich neighbors like Saudi Arabia and Oman; not many people picture the hot coastal plains or jagged mountains of the nation when thinking of the Middle East.

Yet, Yemen sits at one of the most strategic locations in the world. Overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and Suez Canal, international maritime traffic depends on a secure strait to connect both East and West together. As such, it is imperative to understand the country’s struggle for stability, its sectarian division, and the current civil war that has turned the country into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

How did the Yemeni Civil War Begin?

The current civil war in Yemen was sparked in the broader flames of the 2011 Arab Spring, a series of movements and protests that called for political and economic reform in the Arab world. Initially, organized mass protests in Yemen called for longtime authoritarian leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had continuously ruled for 33 years, to step down.

Protesters in Sanaa University calling for the overthrow of Saleh’s government. Source: Noor Al Hassan, via Al Jazeera English

With growing international pressure, Saleh stepped down after initial attempts to resist, paving the way for his vice president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, to take the position of acting president in 2012. However, even without Saleh’s presence, Yemen remained stagnant and divided, with soaring unemployment, growing shortages of basic goods like food and water, and limited economic growth. 

Capitalizing on this widespread distress, groups like the Houthis began growing their bases of support and recruiting new soldiers, slowly becoming forces capable of challenging the Yemeni Armed Forces. By September 2014, they had completely overrun Sanaa, Yemen’s capital and largest city. With Houthi rebels making advances along the country’s western coast, the country quickly fractured once again. 

Houthi fighters patrolling a street in Sanaa in October 2014, shortly before they overran the city. Source: Hani Mohammed and AP Photo

What Are the Houthis? 

The Houthis are an armed political and religious movement that adheres to Zaydism, a branch of Shia Islam. They originally formed to fight what they perceived as governmental corruption and protect Zaydi traditions, eventually taking control over large parts of Yemen’s west and south. 

The Houthis have fought a decade-long conflict against both the internationally recognized Yemeni government and a coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia, which have launched air strikes against the group and engaged in ground skirmishes. 

However, the Houthis have also received help elsewhere, namely from Saudi Arabia’s biggest enemy, Iran. As part of the informal “Axis of Resistance”, a loose network of militant groups that oppose Saudi, Israeli, and U.S. influence in the Middle East. Benefitting in part from Iranian support, the militant group has proved remarkably resistant, maintaining control over its core territories in spite of international attempts to stifle the group’s growth. 

A map of the Axis of Resistance, which is a network of Iranian-backed militias and groups across the Middle East. Source: Britannica

What Happened Recently? 

Leveraging the chaos of the current Iran War, which has exhausted U.S. and Saudi resources, along with a Yemeni army weakened from years of fighting and recent offensives in the south, the Houthis have made large gains in Yemen, capturing the port city of Mocha and seizing near-complete control over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which threatens to disrupt international traffic. 

This means that nearly all of Western Yemen, home to most of the country’s population, is now under control of the Houthi army. Now, the growing offensive is shifting towards Marib, which is the government’s last major oil and gas hub in the north, along with the mountainous city of Taiz. Losing these cities would be further blows to the already-struggling Yemeni government, which depends on Marib to maintain legitimacy and gain crucial oil revenue.

A map of major Yemeni cities. Marib, to the center, and Taiz, to the southwest, are now targets of the Houthis, whose offensive has shocked international analysts. Source: Britannica 

As the conflict resumes in earnest, there nonetheless remains a broader message to be grasped. Unless attempts are put into reconciling the country’s many ethnic and religious groups, Yemen will continue to face heavy internal strife.