Unraveling the Yemen Proxy War: A Civilian Toll in Escalating Conflict

Abstract

[Name] Executive Summary Civil wars and conflicts in Yemen escalated when the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa in 2014 and a Saudi-led coalition supported President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s efforts to regain his position. The involvement of external forces have depicted the conflict as proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran whose government has supported the Houthis. Initially, the Zaidi Shia group Houthis seized the capital in an attempt to influence political change and end corruption in the Yemeni government. The influence of the Saudi-led coalition and Iran into the conflict has escalated the extent of the military and political conflict in the country. Additionally, the death toll has increased as millions of Yemeni citizens being exposed to starvation and lack of basic resources such as water. Both the Iran and the Saudi interferences in the conflict have directed the outcome of the conflict to a regional scale with less focus on the impact the wars have on civilians and resources in Yemen. Past and Future Trajectory The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and the Houthis has only recently gained public attention leveling that of the Syrian conflict. However, the war in the country and the impact on civilians has existed since 21st September, 2014 when the Zaidi Shia group seized the capital Sanaa. The Houthis had the president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi under house arrest alongside members of his family and cabinet. Following Hadi’s escape, his coalition was aided by Saudi Arabia to undertake bombings in an aid to recover control from the Houthis. The conflict has since become a proxy war between powers aiming to restore their desired individuals into the country’s leadership. Primarily, Saudi Arabia has supported the coalition government and provided weapons, resources, and training to the soldiers. On the other hand, Iran has provided resources including bombings to assist Houthis leading to bombings in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia itself. Figure 1: Total and Civilian Cumulative Fatalities from the Yemen Conflict in Thousands The repercussions of the conflict on the civilians in the country have been escalated by the regional powers participating in the proxy wars. With the conflicting sides having access to weapons including drones offered by the external players, the implications have escalated. By the end of April 2015, over 10 million Yemeni civilians did not have access to enough food and water as a result of the conflict (Juneau, 2016). Additionally, there were more than one million starved children in the country by the end of 2015. 2018 experienced the highest number of civilian and total casualties from the Yemeni conflict. The key challenges during the early years of the war were the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people still living in conflict areas. The constant bombings made it challenging for the government and international aid to reach the people in need. However, the current challenge is that the pledged international aid aimed at assisting the people in need has not been provided as promised. The external powers have concentrated on the procurement of military resources with insufficient focus on the issues facing the actual victims of the wars. In the future, the implications of the conflict will be affected by the spread of the coronavirus since it is much harder to deliver aid with the current crisis. The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that America designated Houthis as a terrorist group (Jakes and Hubbard 2021). As the Western nations take sides, the conflict in the country may take a turn to worse in response to external influence. Domestic and Regional Actors Ties between domestic powers and regional actors have escalated the proxy wars in Yemen and increased the impact of the conflict on civilians. On the one hand are the Houthis who have ties with Iran and receive military supplies from the country. This is an Islamic and armed group that derives its name from the tribe of its founder. Its political ambitions were limited during its formation in 1990s but have since become a significant force influencing the Yemen political system (Zweiri, 2016). The members of Houthis are mostly from the Zaidi School and their opposition of the country’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh over corruption gained them recognition. The group’s leader Hussein al-Houthi was killed in 2004 by members of the Yemeni army and escalated the group’s political and military activity. Since their seizure of the county’s capital Sanaa in 2004, Houthis have relied on military support from Iran and have claimed involvement in bombings in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the Saudi-led coalition consists of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait support President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi’s claim to power (Sharp and Brudnick, 2015). The campaign undertaken by the coalition includes bombings, airstrikes, and the establishment of a naval blockade to prevent other forces from interfering with the conflict. Moreover,...