Battle for port in Yemen

This item appears on page 14 of the August 2018 issue.

On June 13, the Yemeni army, with backing from a coalition of Arab states led by the United Arab Emirates, began an operation to take the rebel-held port city of al-Hudaydah. By June 19, the Yemeni army had taken control of the port and airport.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since early 2015 when the Houthi, an ethnic group from northern Yemen, took over the capital, Sana’a, forcing the Yemeni government into exile. During this conflict, more than 10,000 people have been killed and more than 55,000 injured, the vast majority civilians.

A blockade of Yemen set up by the coalition of Arab states has also caused a food crisis in Yemen, leaving 22 million people at risk of starvation. The UN has called it the worst ongoing humanitarian crisis.