- Title: Timeline: Yemen's slide into political crisis and war 2019
- Date: 18th December 2019
- Summary: Saudi-led military coalition said on Sunday (September 1) it had launched air strikes on Houthi military targets in southwest Yemen. The Houthi-run media said the strike had hit a prison, killing dozens of people. The Sunni Muslim coalition said in a statement it had it had destroyed a site storing drones and missiles in Dhamar. Residents told Reuters there had been six air strikes and that a complex in the city being used as a detention centre had been hit. DHAMAR, YEMEN (SEPTEMBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS) DESTROYED BUILDING AT SITE OF STRIKE RED CRESCENT RESCUE WORKERS CARRYING BODY IN BAG FROM RUBBLE VARIOUS OF BODIES ON THE GROUND, PEOPLE AND RED CRESCENT RESCUE WORKERS STANDING NEARBY HEAVY MACHINERY REMOVING DAMAGED VEHICLE COVERED IN RUBBLE VARIOUS OF DESTROYED BUILDING Both sides in the Yemen conflict are responsible for human rights violations that could amount to war crimes, a United Nations experts' report said on Tuesday (September 3). It added that the United States, Britain and France may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen by arming and providing intelligence and logistics support to a Saudi-led coalition that starves civilians as a war tactic. GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 3, 2019) (REUTERS) GROUP OF EMINENT INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL EXPERTS ON YEMEN IN NEWS CONFERENCE PRESENTING REPORT (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL EXPERT ON YEMEN, MELISSA PARKE, SAYING: "The parties to the conflict in Yemen are responsible for an array of human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law. Some of these violations are likely to amount to war crimes. The practical impact of these violations on the lives of ordinary Yemenis has been immense and wide-ranging. Shelling, air strikes and snipers, hit people going about their daily lives, often without warning, in areas where there's no active combat going on, and creates the sense that there's no safe place for Yemenis to hide." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL EXPERT ON YEMEN, CHARLES GARRAWAY, SAYING: "There are certain states who are well-known to be supplying weapons - that includes the United States, it includes the United Kingdom, and it includes France - to name but three. On the other side, it is reported that Iran may be supplying weapons to the Houthis. Now - it is not our task to prepare a detailed list, as I have said, but it is clear that those states that do provide weapons, have particular influence over the parties to the conflict. And when we have said that it is the responsibility of the international community as a whole to respond to this crisis - that is particularly apt for those countries that have special influence - and that must include those that supply arms." Yemen's war and economic collapse have driven around 10 million people to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. Starving children are being sent to malnutrition clinics for treatment, while a surge in cholera cases piles more weight on a medical system already severely lacking staff and supplies. HAJJAH, YEMEN (FILE - FEBRUARY 12, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EMACIATED 12-YEAR-OLD YEMENI GIRL, FATIMA QOBA, ON A HOSPITAL BED QOBA'S LEGS QOBA'S ARM VARIOUS OF A DOCTOR EXAMINING QOBA, AS HER SISTER, FATIMA IBRAHIM QOBA, LOOKS ON QOBA'S SISTER LOOKING ON QOBA'S BACK VARIOUS OF PATIENTS IN THE CLINIC VARIOUS OF A BABY BEING WEIGHED BABY'S HEIGHT BEING MEASURED PATIENTS IN THE WAITING ROOM CHILDREN LYING ON HOSPITAL BEDS SANAA, YEMEN (FILE - MARCH 17, 2019) (REUTERS) AREA FLOODED WITH RAIN WATER VARIOUS OF CHILDREN WALKING AND PLAYING IN STREET IN RAIN WATER SANAA, YEMEN (FILE - MARCH 21, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUNICIPALITY WORKERS CLEANING RAIN DRAINAGE SYSTEM SANAA, YEMEN (FILE - MARCH 10, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHOLERA PATIENTS ON BEDS RECEIVING IV DRIPS INSIDE TENT VARIOUS OF ELDERLY CHOLERA PATIENTS LYING ON FLOOR RECEIVING TREATMENT SANAA, YEMEN (FILE - MARCH 28, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMAN SITTING AGAINST WALL, RECEIVING IV DRIP FOR CHOLERA DRIP
- Embargoed: 1st January 2020 18:16
- Keywords: Aramco Houthi Iran Saudi Arabia Yemen conflict rebels
- Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: Yemen
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00CBAIUBLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: WARNING: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
EDITORS NOTE: PART QUALITY AS INCOMING
FOR COMPLETE TIMELINE, PLEASE ALSO SEE THE FOLLOWING EDITS:
0194-YEMEN-SECURITY/TIMELINE 2006-2015
0195-YEMEN-SECURITY/TIMELINE 2016-2018
The following is a timeline of the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country's slide into violence and how the conflict has developed.
1990. Unification of north and south Yemen to form a single state under president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
1994. Civil war in which Saleh prevents south, angered by what it sees as lower status, from splitting with north.
2003-09. Houthi group in north protests marginalization of the local Zaydi Shi'ite Muslim sect and fights six wars with Saleh's forces and one with Saudi Arabia.
2011. Arab Spring protests undermine Saleh's rule, lead to splits in the army and allow al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to seize swathes of territory in the east.
2012. Saleh steps down in a political transition plan backed by Gulf states. Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi becomes interim president and oversees a "national dialogue" to draft a more inclusive, federal constitution.
2013. AQAP survives military onslaught and drone strikes, staging attacks across the country while retaining a persistent presence. Saleh and his allies undermine the political transition.
2014. The Houthis rapidly advance south from Saadeh and seize Sanaa on September 21 with help from Saleh. They demand a share in power.
2015. Hadi tries to announce a new federal constitution opposed by the Houthis and Saleh, who arrest him. He escapes, pursued by the Houthis, triggering Saudi intervention in March along with a hastily assembled Arab military coalition.
Months later, the coalition drives the Houthis and Saleh loyalists from Aden in south Yemen and Marib, northeast of Sanaa, but the front lines solidify, setting up years of stalemate.
2016. AQAP takes advantage of the chaos to establish a mini-state around Mukalla in east Yemen, raising fears the war will lead to a new surge in jihadist activity. The UAE backs local forces in a battle to end the group's rule there.
Hunger grows as the coalition imposes a partial blockade on Yemen, accusing Iran of smuggling missiles to the Houthis through Hodeidah alongside food imports, something it denies.
Coalition air strikes that kill civilians prompt warnings from rights groups, but Western support for the military campaign continues.
2017. The Houthis launch a growing number of missiles deep into Saudi Arabia, including at Riyadh. Seeing a chance to regain power for his family by reneging on his Houthi allies, Saleh switches sides, but is killed trying to escape them.
Friction also develops between fighters in Aden backed by Saudi Arabia, and those backed by its Emirati coalition partners.
2018. Coalition-backed forces, including some flying the southern separatist flag, advance up the Red Sea coast against the Houthis, aiming to take the port of Hodeidah, the last main entry point for supplies into north Yemen.
2019. The United Nations renews efforts to end the Yemen war under a peace plan that calls for a ceasefire between the Saudi-led coalition and Iranian-aligned Houthi insurgents, and the formation of a transitional governance deal.
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