The Armed Forces of Yemen includes the Yemen Army, Navy, 1st Armored Division, and the Yemeni Air Force (2008). A major reorganization of the armed forces continues. The unified air forces and air defenses are now under one command. The navy is concentrated in Aden. The Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen joined to form the Republic of Yemen on May 22, 1990.
The Houthi insurgency in Yemen, also known as the Houthi rebellion, Sa'dah War, or Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty. Initially, most of the fighting took place in Sa'dah Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. Since 2014 the nature of the insurgency has changed with the Houthi takeover in Yemen and then into the ongoing Yemeni civil war (2015–present) with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in 2015.
The Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamic political and armed movement that emerged from Sa'dah in northern Yemen in the 1990s. The movement was called Houthis because its founder is from the Houthi tribe. They are of the Zaidi sect, though the movement reportedly also includes Sunnis. Under the leadership of Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, the group emerged as an opposition to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom they charged with massive financial corruption and criticized for being backed by Saudi Arabia and the United States at the expense of the Yemeni people and Yemen's sovereignty. Resisting Saleh's order for his arrest, Hussein was killed in Sa'dah in 2004 along with a number of his guards by the Yemeni army, sparking the Houthi insurgency in Yemen. Since then, except for a short intervening period, the movement has been led by his brother Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
The Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen refers to the armed conflict that started in 1998 between the Yemeni government with United States assistance, and al-Qaeda-affiliated cells in Yemen. The strife is often categorized as a sub-conflict in the greater Global War on Terror.
The Southern Movement, sometimes known as the Southern Separatist Movement, or South Yemen Movement, and colloquially known as al-Hirak, is a political movement and paramilitary organization active in the south of Yemen since 2007, demanding secession from the Republic of Yemen and a return to the former independent state of South Yemen. At present, its political branch, the Southern Transitional Council led by Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, is the de facto leadership in all provinces of the south.
The following lists events that happened in 2015 in Yemen.
The aftermath of the Houthi takeover in Yemen refers to developments following the Houthis' takeover of the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and dissolution of the government, which eventually led to a civil war and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
The Battle of Aden was a battle for the control of Aden, Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units and militias loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and local residents, Southern Movement militias, and Yemen Army units and militias loyal to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side.
The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
Al Anad Air Base is a military airbase in the Lahij Governorate, Yemen. It is the biggest air base in Yemen.
The Battle of Dhale was a key fight for control of Dhale, Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and militiamen and Yemen Army units loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side.
The Abyan campaign was a campaign for control of the Abyan Governorate of Yemen, between the Houthis and Yemen Army units loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and militiamen and Yemen Army units loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on the other side, supported by jihadists of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Pro-Hadi Forces recaptured the Abyan Governorate on 11 August, after launching an offensive on pro-Houthi forces in early August.
The Taiz campaign (2015–present) is a protracted military confrontation between opposing Yemeni forces in the city of Taiz for control of the city and surrounding area. The battle began one month after the start of the Yemeni Civil War.
A Saudi Arabian-Yemeni border conflict between Saudi Arabian troops and Yemeni Houthi insurgents has been taking place, in the southern regions of Asir, Jizan, and Najran, since the onset of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in 2015.
On 15 May 2016, a suicide bombing in the southern Yemeni port city of Mukalla, the capital of the Hadhramaut province, killed at least 47 police and injured over 60. The bombing was preceded by an attack, where 15 Yemeni troops were killed in attacks on army positions outside Mukalla. ISIL said, one of its militants blew up a vehicle, packed with explosives, in an army base in the Khalf district at the city's eastern outskirts.
The following lists events that will happen in 2016 in Yemen.
On August 29, 2016, morning a powerful car suicide bombing was conducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, on an army camp in Aden, Yemen in which 72 people died and 67 wounded. The new military recruits were signing in a local government school, when the explosion took place. According to military sources, the recruitment was being done for new soldiers, for Yemen and Saudi led coalition army, needed for fighting the Huthi rebels, at the northern border with Saudi Arabia. ISIS claimed responsibility and referred to it as martyrdom operation. The bombing was another in a series of recent terrorist attacks, by Islamist militants, including Islamic State, in Yemen, especially on soldiers, public defense workers, and recruits, as a consequence of 18-month-old civil war between the Houthi movement and Hadi's supporters.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni Civil War (2015–present), which began in March 2015 and is ongoing.
Brig.Munir Al Yafi was a Yemeni support forces commander. He was the leader of the Southern Movement's military arm during the Yemeni Civil War until his death. He was killed on 1 August 2019 alongside 35 other people, during a missile attack on a military parade in Aden, Yemen carried out by the Houthis.
Battle of Aden (2019) was a series of clashes in the city of Aden between the pro-Hadi government troops backed by Saudi Arabia and Southern Transitional Council forces backed by the United Arab Emirates.
