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Yemen Crisis Explained

By: Harveer Singhtwitter.com/iastoss+91-880-2009-420

This PPT is for educational purpose only. The learner is expected to supplement the video lecture with this ppt. The content is taken from various daily and weekly publications. Due care has been taken in preparing the material but the tutor or superprofs would not be responsible for any error or consequences arising out of it.

• For much of the 20th Century, Yemen existed as two separate countries - the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) in the north and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) in the south. In 1990, the countries chose to unify and create the Republic of Yemen. However, southerners soon began complaining of political and economic marginalisation by the government in Sanaa, and fought a civil war in 1994 in a failed attempt to reverse the unification.

• Yemen is strategically important because it sits on the Bab al-Mandab strait, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, through which much of the world's oil shipments pass. Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear a Houthi takeoverwould threaten free passage through the strait.

• The Houthis are a Shiite insurgent group that fought the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh intermittently from 2004 until he agreed to step down in 2011, in the wake of protests inspired by the Arab Spring.

• Yemen's security forces have split loyalties, with some units backing Mr Hadi, and others the Houthis and Mr Hadi's predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has remained politically influential.

• The Houthis are members of a rebel group, also known as Ansar Allah (Partisans of God), who adhere to a branch of Shia Islam known as Zaidism. Zaidis make up one-third of the population and ruled North Yemen under a system known as the imamate for almost 1,000 years until 1962.

• The Houthis take their name from Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi. He led the group's first uprising in 2004 in an effort to win greater autonomy for their heartland of Saada province, and also to protect Zaidi religious and cultural traditions from perceived encroachment by Sunni Islamists.

• n 2011, the Houthis joined the protests against then President Saleh and took advantage of the power vacuum to expand their territorial control in Saada and neighbouring Amran province.

• They subsequently participated in a National Dialogue Conference (NDC), which led to President Hadi announcing plans in February 2014 for Yemen to become a federation of six regions.

• The Houthis however opposed the plan, which they said would leave them weakened.

• Both President Hadi and the Houthis are opposed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has staged numerous deadly attacks from its strongholds in the south and south-east.

• AQAP the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda because of its technical expertise and global reach. The US has been carrying out operations, including drone strikes, against AQAP in Yemen with President Hadi's co-operation

The Coalition

• The coalition comprises five Gulf Arab states and Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan.

• India evacuated 2,280 persons, including 1,764 Indians, from the conflict zone during the 2006 Lebanon War.

• Over 15,000 were pulled out of Libya in 2011. And the biggest airlift in history remains the Indian effort in Iraq and Kuwait in 1990, during which approximately 1,76,000 were evacuated between August 13, 1990 to October 11, 1990. Nearly 500 flights were involved in the Iraq-Kuwait operation.

• March 30: 400 Indians evacuated via sea to Djibouti. The Indian Air Force is being requested to deploy two Globemaster aircrafts to air lift the evacuees from Djibouti.

• March 31: The Indian ship INS Sumitra has begun evacuating approximately 350 more Indian citizens from the region. The operation commenced after Indian vessels got approval for docking at Aden. The evacuees are being taken to Djibouti from where they will be flown to India. This brings the total to 700 Indians having been evacuated from the region so far. The rescue operation has been officially named “Operation Raahat”.

• April 3: The first successful air evacuation saw 351 citizens safely transported from Sana’a to Djibouti.

• April 4: India assisted 179 citizens from 17 countries through the INS Mumbai. Almost 800 citizens were evacuated.

• April 5: 806 Indians were evacuated by air. 2 C17s evacuated 225 and 229 passengers each to Mumbai, while an Air India plane evacuated 352 passengers to Kochi. INS Sumitra evacuated 203 passengers from Ash Shihr (182 Indians, rest from abroad)

• April 6: 547 Indian citizens were evacuated to Djibouti from Yemen, by Air India.

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Thank You.

• For any feedback/query/word of thanks, the Tutor can be contacted at harveersinh@gmail.com