Issue Brief on “Yemen: The Forgotten War”

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One of Middle East’s bloodiest conflicts is also one, which is most overlooked. The almost three year old war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people and triggered a massive humanitarian crisis. But press coverage has been minimal, overshadowed by other events regarding ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

The Yemen conflict comprises of two sides. On one end are the Houthi rebels backed by Iran. On the other is the former Yemini government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi backed by a coalition of ten countries led by Saudi Arabia, who is also ultimately backed by the United States. Civil war in the country erupted in 2015, when the Houthis, a Shia group who receive money and weapons from Iran[1] took up arms to overthrow Yemen’s government claiming that the government discriminated against them for years, mistreated them on a large scale and that their fight is a fight to be treated fairly. Many in the region by contrast see the situation very differently. They view it as a shadow war between Saudi Arabia and Iran for control over the entire region.

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