December 1–7: Assassinations, intra-government squabbles, new peace talks

The past week in Yemen has seen an attempted Cabinet reshuffle, the seizure by al-Qaeda of two towns in Abyan Governorate and the 4^th Military Region headquarters in Aden, and the assassination of Aden’s governor, an act which was quickly claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate. Meanwhile, airstrikes and ground combat have continued in central Yemen and beyond the borders with Saudi Arabia. On Monday, December 7, the UN special envoy for Yemen announced that a new round of peace talks will be held next week, beginning on December 15. A ceasefire is expected to be announced on the eve of the talks, although such announcements in the recent past have come to nothing. On December 1, President Abdu Rabbuh Mansur Hadi issued decrees appointing five ministers to the cabinet of PM/VP Khaled Bahah. The reshuffle exacerbated the lingering Hadi-Bahah dispute; PM/VP Bahah reportedly refused to recognize the new appointments, as the president has no legal authority to replace cabinet ministers. On December 2, AQAP militants captured the towns of Zinjibar and Jaʻar in Abyan, following a predawn swift attack that killed the brother of the commander of the local Popular Committees, which were formed to fight the militants.

Also on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen abducted a Tunisian staffer working for the  ICRC’s office in Sanʻa while on the way to work in the early morning. Her whereabouts remain unknown to date. Some 30 aid workers reportedly left Yemen within 48 afterwards, including 10 ICRC staffers.

While airstrikes continued over the last week to pound positions on several fronts across Yemen, Saudi-led warplanes have targeted residential areas in the northern provinces of Saʻdah and Hajjah, as well as the coastal western province of al-Hudaydah, where another fish market has been hit by airstrikes.

The battles in the central provinces of Marib and Taʻiz continue to intensify.

In Taʻiz the western and eastern fronts have seen clashes escalating amid heavy airstrikes. Near the Red Sea port town of Mokha, pro-Houthi forces have claimed to hit a sixth warship from the coalition navy. In Marib, this week’s fighting has mostly taken place in the western district of Kuwfal.

On Sunday, Aden’s governor, Gen. Jaʻfar Muhammad Saʻad, was killed along with several members of his entourage, as a vehicle packed with explosives collided with his car in the al-Tawahi district of Aden. Local self-proclaimed IS affiliates took responsibility for the attack. Saʻad was tapped by President Hadi in October to take over the governorate. He had lived in exile prior to that, having fought against the Saleh regime in Yemen’s 1994 civil war.

November 25–30: Marib and Taʻiz still contested; UN demands peace talks

Yemen’s armed conflict has entered its ninth month with no end in sight: airstrikes and ground fighting across Yemen have thus far claimed the lives of more than 5700 people and pushed the country to the brink of famine, according to activist groups and aid agencies. A new report by Human Rights Watch details the failure of the Saudi-led coalition and its western backers to investigate unlawful airstrikes in Yemen, although “the evidence is everywhere.”  The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is still pushing for new peace talks in Geneva. On November 25, Prime Minister/Vice President Khaled Bahah met with Ahmed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. During the meeting, Bahah said that the delegates of his government aim to come back from the new Geneva talks with a solution that guarantees the restoration of peace and security in Yemen.

On Monday, President Abdu Rabbuh Mansor Hadi received a draft including notes on the agendas that have been proposed by the UN envoy for the proposed session of talks. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with PM Bahah on the sidelines of this week’s climate talks in Paris; during the meeting, Ban called on Yemen’s warring parties to return to negotiations immediately and without preconditions. Thus far the Hadi-Bahah government has insisted that the Houthis and their allies must implement UN Security Council resolution 2216 before talks can begin.

Over the weekend, airstrikes in the capital, Sanʻa, targeted once again mountainous positions that have repeatedly been struck over the past months. The warplanes also knocked out the road connecting Dhamar, Ibb, and Taʻiz provinces with Sanʻa.

It’s been two weeks now since coalition and resistance forces launched a major operation to “liberate” Taʻiz Governorate. Justifications for the delay in liberating Taʻiz and Marib have started to appear in the media; while the field commander in charge says the operation is going according to plan, the local tribal resistance commander stated that 10 brigades of Houthi/Saleh forces are fighting to hold their positions in Taʻiz.

Coalition units intensified their efforts to take control of the western part of Taʻiz, near the Red Sea town of Mocha. The western and eastern fronts are reportedly seeing the fiercest clashes since the operation was launched. Pro-Houthi forces are holding their positions in al-Shurayjah and al-Rahidah on the road to the southern province of Lahj despite heavy airstrikes.

Likewise, Marib’s western district of Sirwah has not yet been liberated, despite months of fighting. On Sunday, Marib’s deputy governor said that landmines planted by Houthi/Saleh forces are the main reason behind that.

November 18-24: Taʻiz offensive slows, no new peace talks scheduled

Although it has been over a week since the new round of the UN-sponsored peace talks was supposed to be held, the representatives of the warring parties have not yet convened. Meanwhile, airstrikes and fighting continues in seven areas of Yemen—Taʻiz, Marib, Lahj, Shabwah, al-Dhaliʻ, Ibb, and al-Baydha—and outside three Saudi cities near the border. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, continues to push for this new session, which is now reportedly expected to take place in Geneva in mid-December. Over the weekend, delegates from the Houthi Movement and the General People's Congress party (GPC) flew once again to the Omani capital, Muscat, after they announced their acceptance of the UN envoy's invitation. On Tuesday, Prime Minister/Vice President Khaled Bahah met with the US ambassador to Yemen, Matthew Tueller, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. During the meeting he assured Tueller that his government is ready for the peace talks on the condition that the Houthis and their allies are “serious and honest” in implementing UN resolution 2216, which calls for their withdrawal from Sanʻa and other areas pro-Houthi forces have captured.

It's been nearly 10 days since the ground offensive was launched to “liberate” the central governorate of Taʻiz: the clashes have been chiefly taking place in the western districts of al-Wazi'iyah, Dhubab and Mowzaʻ, and a few eastern fronts. The pro-Houthi/Saleh forces have retreated from a number of positions there amid heavy airstrikes, but coalition forces and resistance fighters haven’t been able to advance toward Taʻiz city due to landmines planted by Houthi/Saleh forces. Inside the city, rocket bombardments by pro-Houthi/Saleh forces have targeted residential areas as clashes take place in downtown and on the outskirts of Taʻiz.

In Marib governorate, the clashes continue to take place in the western district of Sirwah. PM Bahah briefly visited Marib for less than an hour. His visit on Sunday along with a number of ministers was intended as a morale boost for the local resistance fighters. The Houthi/Saleh forces have reportedly gained a mountainous strategic position in Kawfal area and are still holding a number of positions in Sirwah district.

Sporadic clashes have also continued to take place in the governorates of Shabwah, al-Dhaliʻ, Ibb, and al-Baydha.

In the southeastern province of Hadhramawt, the toll of the first IS-claimed suicide attack on Friday has risen to 18 soldiers and 17 jihadi militants.

November 10–17: Coalition launches Ta‘iz offensive, peace talks postponed

While the new session of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva seems to have been postponed, the airstrikes and ground fighting continued over the past week, mostly in central and southern Yemen and beyond the border with Saudi Arabia. Early Tuesday, President Abdu Rabbuh Mansur Hadi returned to his provisional capital, Aden, one day after Yemeni resistance and Saudi-led coalition forces launched a major operation to "liberate" the central city of Taʻiz. Hadi chaired a meeting focused on the security issues in Aden, where a number of areas are reportedly under the control of jihadi militants. On Sunday, Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah announced from Suqutra Island the return of his cabinet members to the southern port city of Aden.

Amid airstrikes by Saudi Arabia and its allies,  clashes have been taking place in the central governorates of Taʻiz and Marib as well as the southern governorates of Lahj and Shabwah.

In Taʻiz Governorate, fighting has been chiefly raging on the western fronts, near the Red Sea port town of Mokha, in addition to clashes in downtown Taʻiz city, where jihadi militants are believed to be fighting alongside other local resistance factions. Near Mokha town, battles have intensified as the resistance fighters along with Saudi-led coalition forces have gained ground in the al-Waziʻiyah area. However, tens of anti-Houthi forces were reportedly killed in roadside ambush.

In Marib, tribal fighters and coalition forces have attempted once again to advance in the western Sirwah district, with air support from fighter jets and Apache helicopters. Meanwhile, Yemeni Army (pro-Hadi) Chief of Staff, Major General Mohammad ʻAli al-Maqdashi, visited the district to oversee the battles there.

In Lahj, clashes have taken place near al-Anad military base, one of the most important military installations in the south. Resistance fighters along with coalition forces have reportedly gained a number of positions there.

In Shabwah, fierce fighting has been taking place in Bayhan district, which is controlled by pro-Houthi/Saleh forces. In the clashes, Islah Party members have reportedly been killed.

November 3–9: Fighting intensifies on multiple fronts as Geneva talks approach

With new peace talks fast approaching, the ground fighting continues to escalate rapidly on several fronts across Yemen and across the border with Saudi Arabia, while the Saudi-led coalition’s aircraft continue to provide local anti-Houthi fighters with aerial support and weapons. Ground fighting has been swiftly intensifying in or around six Yemeni cities since early last week, while the new round of UN-sponsored talks aiming to end the conflict in Yemen is just few days away. The new peace-talks session is expected to take place in Geneva on November 15. On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew to Riyadh to reinforce the push for a peaceful political settlement among the warring parties. Having finalized the initial negations ahead of the upcoming talks in Geneva, delegates from the Houthi Movement and the General People’s Congress party (GPC) returned from Muscat on Friday to brief their leadership in the Yemeni capital, Sanʻa. The exiled government in Riyadh has already assigned five representatives for the new Geneva talks. While the UN special envoy for Yemen appeared to be optimistic, several observers believe the talks are doomed to fail amid the escalated conflict on the ground.

In the central city of Taʻiz, clashes are taking place in downtown and intensifying in the eastern frontline, with both sides using heavy artillery and tanks. More than a dozen pro-Houthi/Saleh forces have been killed and wounded in an ambush; civilians have also reportedly been killed. While the pro-Houthi/Saleh forces surround the city from three sides, coalition airstrikes continue to target those forces. More reinforcement troops from the coalition, along with armored vehicles, have reached Taʻiz during the past week.

Near the Red Sea port of Mokha, pro-Houthi/Saleh forces claimed to hit a coalition warship, which they say is the fourth to be bombed.

In Ibb governorate, pro-Houthi/Saleh forces have taken control of Damt district near Dhaliʻ city, after fierce clashes with local resistance fighters left tens of dead on both sides. Although the coalition’s aircraft provided the resistance fighters with aerial support and weapons, the pro-Houthi/Saleh forces still control large parts of the district.

In Marib governorate, clashes erupted on new frontlines in the western districts amid airstrikes and artillery barrages. The local tribal fighters along with coalition forces are poised to capture al-Wakifah valley, some four kilometers outside the western district of Sirwah.

In the southern governorate of Lahj, near Aden city, fighting has escalated in what was seen as an attempt by pro-Houthi/Saleh forces to recapture Aden. On the other hand, 200 Sudanese and Gulf troops were reportedly seen leaving Aden, heading toward al-Anad airbase, where at least 400 coalition forces have been stationed.

Meanwhile, another Tropical Cyclone, Megh, battered Suqutra Island on Sunday, just days after Cyclone Chapala left at least three people dead and displaced hundreds from their homes on the island. One woman was reportedly killed while four other people were injured by the second storm.

October 20–November 2: New talks expected, fighting continues, cyclone takes a toll

The civil war entered its eighth month on October 26, as the airstrikes and ground combat continue to rage on, mostly in central Yemen. That day, Saudi-led airstrikes destroyed an MSF-supported hospital in the northern governorate of Saʻdah, leaving the entire governorate with only one health facility. “At least 200,000 people now have no access to lifesaving medical care,” said an MSF press release. A new round of UN-sponsored peace talks aiming to end the drawn-out conflict in Yemen is expected to take place in Geneva on November 15, after being postponed last month. Meanwhile, fighting on the Saudi side of the border continues to intensify in the areas of Najran, Jayzan and Asir. 

Last month, the UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, tried to talk the warring parties into holding a new round of talks based on a seven-point proposal put forth during previous talks in the Omani capital, Muscat. Both the Houthis and their ally former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have assented to the negotiated implementation of UNSC resolution 2216, which requires them to hand over their weapons and withdraw from occupied cities. Yemen’s Saudi-backed government-in-exile, however, has insisted since the peace talks began on the Houthis’ full implementation of 2216 as a precondition to talks. Now, after many quibbles over the time and place of this new session, the UN envoy expects the talks to be held in Geneva on November 15.

In the meantime, the frontlines in the central governorates of Taʻiz, Marib, al-Baydha, and Ibb have seen clashes intensifying as Saudi-led warplanes provide aerial support for local resistance fighters. Sporadic clashes are also taking place in the southern governorate of Lahj, just north of Aden.

In Taʻiz city, clashes between local resistance militias and pro-Houthi/Saleh forces escalated over the past two weeks. Coalition war planes have been targeting the positions of Houthi/Saleh forces and airdropping weapons to the resistance. Over the weekend, local resistance fighters were able to secure a route into Taʻiz through the Houthi blockade, and smuggle a number of armored vehicles into Taʻiz amid the weeks-long siege imposed by the pro-Houthi forces.

Also in Taʻiz, a group of salafi militants, calling themselves “Humat al-ʻAqidah” (Guardians of Faith), have recently emerged and are fighting alongside the local resistance fighters. While the expected “decisive operation” for liberating Yemen’s third-largest city hasn’t yet began, the city may soon witness even fiercer fighting.

In Marib city, fighting for control over the western district of Sirwah continues to intensify, although parts of this district have already been “liberated” by Maribi tribes and coalition forces. Early last week, clashes broke out all over again, when the coalition-trained Maribi forces along with local tribal fighters made a push further into Sirwah, a district seen as the key area leading to the capital, Sanʻa. They were able to gain another position in the Mashjaʻ area of Sirwah, as pro-Houthi forces retreated under heavy airstrikes and artillery barrages. However, clashes are still taking place in other parts of Marib.

In al-Baydha, intermittent clashes between pro-Houthi forces and local tribal fighters took place mainly in two areas of the governorate, while Saudi-led warplanes provided the local resistance with air support. Airstrikes hit the provincial security building in downtown al-Baydha, while others targeted a number of positions of the pro-Houthi forces on the outskirts of the city.

In Ibb city, clashes have escalating over the past two weeks, especially after the Saudi-led coalition decided to supply the local resistance fighters with arms and provide them aerial support. The fighting has been taking place in the eastern areas near al-Dhaliʻ governorate. Some local observers, however, opine that the “liberation” of the neighboring cities of Taʻiz and Ibb should begin simultaneously.

On Monday, November 2, Cyclone Chapala swept over the Yemeni island of Suqutra, killing three people and injuring many more. The storm, which meteorologists called the most powerful to hit Yemen in recent history, made landfall on Yemen's southern coast the following day, flooding the city of al-Mukalla and other coastal towns. Recent reports say that more than 40,000 citizens have been displaced by the storm, which has dropped as much as a decade's worth of rain on some parts of the country already. Emirati and Omani authorities have already dispatched aid to Suqutra; al-Mukalla, which has been under the control of al-Qaeda for several months, has yet to receive outside assistance.

Wedding airstrike shatters families, and a village's sense of safety

An aircraft hovered in the sky of a small village in Yemen’s central highlands, as three brides were being driven to a multistoried house where three brother-grooms were celebrating and waiting for them one night early this month. It wasn’t long after the brides were received, around 10:00 p.m. local time, when a missile hit the house, just a few minutes after the bridal caravan of more than 20 cars from two neighboring villages had arrived. That was on October 7, when the family of Mohammed Saleh Ghawba was celebrating the wedding of three sons—Moayad, 25; Ayman, 23; and Abdurrahman, 21—at their three-story house in Sanaban village, 33 kilometers east of Dhamar City, the provincial capital.

This aerial attack on the brother-grooms wedding, the second airstrike to hit a wedding in just 10 days, claimed the lives of 43 people, mostly women and children from the grooms’ and brides’ families. According to a list of civilian deaths provided by relatives of the victims’ families and verified by the YPP during a recent visit, 13 women and 15 children were killed by the strike, which also caused great damage to the house.

The ruins of the Ghawba family home, with the wreckage of a car from the bridal caravan in the foreground

Thirteen members and relatives of the Ghawba household were killed, including the youngest of the grooms and their parents. One of the brides was also killed along with a dozen of her relatives. While her father who came along from al-Kharbah village, some two kilometers south of Sanaban, survived the aerial attack, he couldn’t escape the devastating shock that left him in a grim mental state, along with the families of the two other brides from al-Jamimah village, less than a kilometer north of Sanaban.

As customs go in rural areas of Dhamar and other places in Yemen, the bride’s family carries out marriage ceremonies for their daughter at their home for a couple of days; the family of the groom does likewise. But usually, the wedding banquet for men is held the next day after receiving the bride. On the wedding day, the groom’s family sends a group of delegates in a convoy to the bride’s family to escort the bride to the groom’s house. In return the bride’s father comes along with a convoy twice as large, as a matter of courtesy. This is why the bridal convoy from the villages of al-Jamimah and al-Kharbah included nearly 30 cars.

“At least ten cars from each village were escorting the three brides to Sanaban,” said Abdussalam al-Sanabani, 40, a relative of the brother-grooms who was in the bridal convoy.

He said that at 9:30 pm on Wednesday, October 7, the convoy approached the grooms’ house in Sanaban, where the three brides were then welcomed, while the brides’ relatives of men and women in addition to their children who came along with the convoy were also received accordingly.

“Just a few minutes later, a huge explosion took place and flames engulfed the house,” Abdussalam said.

According to several eyewitnesses in Sanaban, a warplane was seen circling overhead about 15 minutes before the arrival of the bridal convoy.

“The warplane was circling noticeably as the bridal convoy was approaching the village [Sanaban], and I heard it flying at low latitude to the northwest as the missile struck the house,” said local resident Maher Mohammed Saleh, 30, who was some 10 meters away from the house. “I even heard the missile whizzing before it hit the house.”

That night the survivors from the Ghawba family, together with their neighbors, began searching for bodies in the rubble; they continued into the morning. A large part of the house, which was originally built of red bricks, was totally demolished. A number of vehicles from the bridal convoy had caused secondary explosions, increasing the damage.

“Most of the bodies were either badly charred or ripped apart,” said Abdurrahman Saleh Ghawba, 50, a paternal uncle of the brother-grooms, who lost three sons in the blast. Among them was Mohammed, 25 who had been married five days prior. Abdurrahman could hardly identify the remains of his newlywed son.

“We could only recognize him through his wedding ring, which had his wife’s name etched on it,” said Abdurrahman during an interview. Abdurrahman was on the way to Dhamar city when the airstrike hit the house. His only two brothers, including the grooms’ father, were killed in the aerial attack.

Mohammed Jamal Saleh Ghawba, 35, a paternal cousin of the brother-grooms, lost his 5-year-old daughter, Jood, along with both of his parents, a brother, a nephew, and a niece. He described the horrible scene to the YPP.

“Women and children were burning in front of me while crying and screaming for help,” he said. “It’s even more terrible when you see your father cut in half.”

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Moayad, 25, the eldest of the three brother-grooms, spoke to the YPP a week after his wedding party was hit by the airstrike about the need to move forward.

“The blast was big; I saw bodies scattered and burning all over,” Moayad said. “We have lost many of our family members and relatives, but we need to move on in our life.”

He now lives along with his wife from al-Jamimah village at a house he rented in the Sanaban village. He owns a grocery there, while his brother Ayman, 23, who also survived the attack, was working at a store selling construction and building tools, which their father used to own.

Ayman, in contrast to his brother, still couldn’t believe what had happened. He seemed to be greatly affected, and never went out of the house his eldest brother has just rented.

“I lost my wife, my parents and several others of my relatives; how is life going to be after all that?”

Ayman’s wife was from al-Kharbah village, while the wife of Abdurrahman, the youngest groom who was killed by the airstrike, survived and now living in al-Jamimah village with her family.

This aerial attack was the first in the Sanaban village and one of the deadliest attacks since the Saudi-led coalition began its air offensive in late March to roll back the gains of the pro-Houthi forces, and restore to power the exiled government of President ‘Abdu Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. After seven months of bombing, the coalition, which receives logistical support and materiel from the US and UK, has not yet achieved any of its stated goals, while UN-backed talks have thus far failed to bring the warring parties closer to a political solution to the conflict in Yemen. According to UN figures, more than 4,500 people have so far been killed, including more than 500 children. Alongside the aerial offensive, ground fighting is raging on several fronts across the country, displacing more than two million Yemenis from their homes.

Saudi military spokesman, Ahmad al-Asiri, has denied that the coalition is responsible for the strike in Sanaban. "Not every time an explosion or an attack takes place, it is committed by the coalition. We do not target civilian areas, " al-Asiri told Al Jazeera after the attack.

There is no clear reason as to why the wedding party in Sanaban village would be hit. The village is situated near rocky hills, 20 km northwest of Rada‘ City in al-Baydha Governorate. Only one military post could be seen 15 kilometers south of Sanaban, on the way to Dhamar City.

The presence of the Houthis could be hardly seen in the village; the Houthi movement’s slogans were hard to find anywhere in Sanaban. The locals seemed to have refrained from taking a side in the ongoing conflict. Even with the Houthis advancing on Rada‘, ostensibly to fight al-Qaeda there, the elders in Sanaban were keen not to have the locals involved in the fighting. Before the wedding airstrike, Sanaban village was thought to be somewhat safer than most other places in Yemen.

Adnan Hussein Ali al-Sanabani, a relative of the brother-grooms, whose family was present during the wedding party, decided to leave the capital, San‘a, over a month ago.

“I decided to bring my family here to Sanaban and stay until the conflict is over,” said Adnan during an interview with him at his house in the village. In San‘a, he was living along with his family in a house near the Presidential Palace, near Nahdayn Mountain, a place the Saudi-led warplanes have been heavily pounding for months now.

“I thought the village [Sanaban] would be a safe place to live, away from the conflict. Now I have lost daughter, Reenad; she was just five years old.”

Reporter Saif AlOliby accompanied Mohammed Ali Kalfood to Sanaban and contributed to this report.

Correction: an earlier version of this post referred to the home village of one of the brides as al-Kharab. The village's name is al-Kharbah.

October 6–19: Civilians suffer as conflict drags on; new peace talks announced

Yemen’s civil conflict is now in its seventh month, and UN-backed peace talks remain stagnant. The conflict that started in late March has killed more than 4,500 Yemenis so far, including at least 502 children, according to UNICEF. An estimated 10% of the country’s population has been internally displaced. While 80% of Yemenis needs humanitarian assistance, more than half a million children face life-threatening malnutrition as a risk of famine grows. In an open letter, Oxfam and other NGOs urged UN Security Council members to act to end the months-long civil war and alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. On Tuesday, October 6, suicide attacks in the southern port city of Aden targeted the exiled government, which forced Vice President/ Prime Minister Khaled Bahah along with a handful of ministers to withdraw from the city. Three IS-claimed suicide attacks in Aden—the provisional capital—hit the exiled government’s temporary building, the residence of Emirati troops, and the Coalition’s Joint Command Center. At least 15 coalition troops and Southern Resistance fighters were reportedly killed in the attacks, which reveal that Aden’s security situation is much more fragile than it appears to be.

Some 400 Sudanese troops—out of 6,000 that the Sudanese government has reportedly pledged—were deployed to this “liberated” port city On Monday, October 19, two days after 300 troops had already arrived. But it has not yet been confirmed whether this second batch of Sudanese troops will be tasked with maintaining security in Aden, or be sent into combat elsewhere.

On Wednesday, October 7, more than 40 people were killed when an airstrike hit the house of three brother-grooms in Sanaban village, east of Dhamar city in Yemen’s central highlands. This was the second wedding party to be bombed in 10 days, as Saudi-led airstrikes continued to hit cities and towns across the country.

With aerial cover and support, fighting near the Red Sea coast continued to drag on with the aim of advancing on and “liberating” Taʻiz city, where pro-Houthi/Saleh forces have been imposing a siege for weeks now, leaving the local residents with no water, fuels, or other basic necessities. Although it has been more than two weeks since the Saudi-led coalition launched their operation liberate Taʻiz, no clear action has been taken, other than airstrikes, which have taken a heavy civilian toll along with artillery shells from pro-Houthi/Saleh forces. The coalition-allied fighters, which were deployed outside Lahj province on the road to Taʻiz late in September, have not been able to advance further since then. A coalition spokesperson said that “the geographical nature of the battlefield” is one reason behind that. Over this weekend, Saudi-led warplanes mistakenly struck some of those allied fighters, killing at least 30 and wounding 40 others.

In Marib Governorate, the Saudi-led coalition forces along with local tribal fighters are trying to maintain full control over the governorate, but landmines are slowing their progress. However, the coalition forces and their tribal allies are aiming to open another front in the neighboring governorate of al-Jawf. The Qatari government has reportedly offered to send troops to join the al-Jawf battle ground.

Across the borderline, pro-Houthi troops continue to pound the Saudi Army bases and installations in Najran, Jaizan and Aseer. Several Saudi soldiers have been killed and many others captured. Another Scud missile was also fired from the capital, Sanʻa, toward Khamis Mushayt airbase last week. While the Houthi army spokesman said that the missile hit its target, the Saudi-affiliated media contradicted this.

The launching of the ballistic missile came hours after the top Houthi leader, ‘Abd al-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi delivered a televised speech on Wednesday, October 14. His speech came right after a speech made by former president ʻAli ʻAbdullah Saleh. Both blamed Saudi Arabia for stalling the UN-backed talks aimed at ending the months-long conflict in Yemen. On Sunday, the UN envoy to Yemen announced that a new round of peace talks will be held soon. All parties to the conflict have agreed to participate in the talks that will be held in Geneva late this month.

September 18 - October 5: Indiscriminate attacks continue, coalition advances in east and south

With peace talks still stalled, Yemen saw some of the heaviest indiscriminate airstrikes of the war over the past two weeks, in addition to ground fighting in the central parts of Yemen and near the Bab al-Mandab. Since mid-September, more than 300 people have reportedly been killed by Saudi-led airstrikes in a number of cities and towns. Indiscriminate shelling by pro-Houthi/Saleh forces, particularly in the city of Taʻiz, has also killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks. A UNOCHA-funded report found that “more civilian deaths and injuries from explosive weapons were recorded in Yemen during the first seven months of 2105 than in any other country in the world.” According to that report, at least 86% of those killed by bombs and other explosives in Yemen’s war have been civilians.

In the capital, Sanʻa, at least 90 people were killed in less than a week (September 18-23), including an entire family of 10 in the UNESCO-listed Old City of Sanʻa and another whole family of 11 members in a neighborhood to the north of the capital.

Meanwhile, on September 20, over 70 people were killed while visiting a local market in Munabbeh village of Saʻdah Governorate—just three days prior the ʻEid al-Adha Islamic holiday.

On September 27, an Apache helicopter killed at least 30 people in the northwestern village Bani Zayla’ of Hajjah Governorate, near the border with Saudi Arabia. On the next day, two airstrikes hit a wedding party in the southwestern village of Wahijah near the Red Sea coastal town Mokha, in Taʻiz Governorate. As many as 135 people, mostly women and children, were reportedly killed.

The wedding aerial attack, the deadliest single incident since the start of the Saudi-led air campaign, has drawn strong condemnations and resentful calls worldwide. On that day, UN chief Ban Ki-moon unusually criticized this Saudi campaign in a public statement, and called for an end to the bombings. The Netherlands’ UN mission also drafted a Human Rights Council resolution that called for an impartial, UN-led investigation into human rights and international law violations in ‪‎Yemen.

But while the Saudis were facing international pressure, the Netherlands eventually withdrew the draft. Instead, the Netherlands and other western states backed a resolution penned by Saudi Arabia and the Hadi regime, which made no mention of coalition airstrikes, and left the job of investigating human rights and law violations in the hands of the Hadi regime.

On September 22, Hadi returned to Aden after six months in exile in Riyadh. On September 26, he addressed the United Nations at the 67th UN General Assembly in New York City. From there, Hadi returned to Riyadh on Saturday October 3, not Aden as it was expected.

On Thursday, October 1, the Saudi-led coalition forces reportedly took control of the strategic strait of Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea. Prime Minister and Vice President Khaled Bahah, who reportedly paid a brief visit to a camp near Bab al-Mandab, said the current operations "will push to retake Mokha and al-Hudaydah," both on the Red Sea, and then the "whole coastline up to the border with Saudi Arabia." The coalition also announced that it will start an operation next Thursday morning to liberate Taʻiz.

The seizure of Bab al-Mandab strait came in as Hadi-allied forces and resistance fighters from the southern port city of Aden were mobilizing in the al-Subbayha area of southern Governorate Lahj, some 70 km on the road to the central city of Taʻiz.

Meanwhile, coalition forces along with local tribal fighters have gained more positions in Marib and are closing in on the northwestern district of Sirwah, which is seen as the key area leading to the capital. While the pro-Houthi forces seem to have lost positions in the interior fronts, they have gained ground in the neighboring Saudi cities across the borderline. They claim to have captured military bases and destroyed several army installations, in addition to holding tens of Saudi soldiers as prisoners.

The Marib offensive, three weeks in

On the surrounding rocky hills some four kilometers to the west of Marib City, pro-Houthi forces have been holding positions since early this month, while the Saudi-led coalition’s own forces along with local tribal fighters fight to sweep them out of the way to the capital, Sanʻa. The coalition’s ground offensive in the oil-rich governorate of Marib, in central Yemen, is part of a larger strategy to take control of Sanʻa, some 175 km to the west of the governorate. The ongoing battle in Marib, though, seems to have produced a standoff so far, two weeks after the ground offensive officially began on September 13, hours after the exiled President Hadi and his government in Riyadh backed out of UN-sponsored talks to end the months-long conflict in Yemen.

According to several sources in Marib, however, clashes between tribal fighters and pro-Houthi forces were already taking place more than a week earlier. The coalition-trained Maribi fighters and coalition armed forces were “sent as reinforcements.”

“The fighting broke out late in August in Sirwah district [northwest of Marib], when the Houthis attempted to make a push toward Marib City,” a tribal elder in the city told the YPP via telephone, indicating that the clashes between the warring parties were escalating day by day.

Coalition forces based in the Safer area, to the east of Marib City, have been reportedly preparing to mount a ground offensive as part of their larger campaign to “liberate” Houthi-controlled Sanʻa, in what was allegedly dubbed “Operation Sweeping Current.”

Meanwhile, pro-Houthi forces were able to advance on the rocky hills outside Marib, after fierce clashes along three fronts there killed dozens on both sides, according to local tribal and military sources.

On September 4, Houthis also fired a short-range ballistic missile from Bayhan district of the neighboring Shabwah province, killing 67 Emirati, Saudi, Bahraini soldiers as well as an unknown number of local tribal fighters at a camp in Safer.

By September 8, four days after the ballistic missile attack, hundreds of trained tribal fighters along with a number of coalition’s own forces were seen heading for Marib city, coming from Safer.

“At least 700 local fighters, who were trained in Saudi Arabia along with troops from the coalition forces, have arrived in the headquarters of the 3rd Military Region and a military base in Sahn al-Jin area,” military sources in Marib told the YPP, pointing out that the military base in the area is used as a training camp for the local fighters.

The military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that these allied troops were “sent as reinforcements on Tuesday [September 8],” after the pro-Houthi forces took control of three positions near the rocky hills.

Despite those reinforcements, the pro-Houthi forces “started to carry out heavy missile attacks using Katyusha and Uragan BM-27 rocket launchers, targeting both the HQ of the 3rd Military Region and the training camp,” said the sources, adding that several coalition troops were killed, and a number of armored vehicles destroyed.

On that day, the UAE government officially stated that one Emirati soldier was killed in the Marib fighting. There had been no official comments from the other Gulf States participating in the current ground offensive, but Houthi-affiliated media outlets claimed that two Qatari soldiers were killed, and that a score of armored vehicles were totally destroyed. Those figures could not be confirmed independently.

In response, the tribal fighters fought their way back to the western areas of al-Jufaina, Edat al-Raa’ and Tabbat al-Masaryah, where pro-Houthi forces are holding their positions. Coalition fighter jets and Apache helicopters provided the Maribi fighters with air support, according to both military sources.

On September 12, the Saudi-led coalition officially announced the ground offensive in Marib, hours after the exiled government in Riyadh announced it would not participate in the UN-backed peace talks, which were expected to be held in few days later.

On Friday, September 25, at least 1,000 local fighters, who had been trained in Saudi Arabia, crossed through the town of al-Abr in Hadhramawt governorate, and headed for Marib aboard military armored vehicles and tanks.

The military sources said that these troops arrived at the HQ of the 3rd Military Region and the military base in Sahn al-Jin area. “But this time, the troops advanced under an air cover and after heavy airstrikes” on Houthi positions. According to several tribal sources in Marib, the fighters aboard military armored trucks pushed into the western fronts under heavy aerial cover on Saturday, indicating that al-Jufaina and Tabbat al-Masaryah fronts have seen the most brutal fighting.

On Sunday, a weapons depot in Tabbat al-Masaryah was bombed by airstrikes and flames were seen rising above this rocky hill front, according to the sources. The airstrikes have also targeted a Houthi checkpoint in Harib area of Shabwah, on the border with Marib, killing a number of Houthi fighters including their leader, who was identified as Abo Malek al-Khawlani.

On Monday, the tribal fighters closed in on the pro-Houthi forces at the Tabbat al-Masaryah front in the northwest, and were poised to drive them out from two positions, said a local tribal source, indicating that the push uphill was preceded with the heaviest airstrikes and the artillery shells yet seen. However, the Houthi-affiliated TV channel al-Masira said that Houthi forces were making "a tactical retreat," and that "the aggressors were using internationally banned missiles".

The fighting is not over yet in Marib; on Sunday the convoy of one of the Yemeni military commanders in charge of “liberating” Marib, Brigadier al-Qumayri, hit a landmine planted by the pro-Houthi forces. Four of al-Qumayri's body guards were killed, including his son, Hamza, and several others were injured, while he survived the bombing unscathed, according to a tribal source.

Update: Yemen Press reported on Tuesday that tribal and coalition forces had gained full control of Marib Dam, as well as Tabbat al-Masaryah. The YPP's sources confirmed those reports.

Communities in Hajjah count the cost of indiscriminate airstrikes

Abdullah Hadi, 39, returned to the water bottling facility outside his town around 3:00 a.m. to make the final checklist for the laborers working overnight, before ending his shift. Half an hour later, the chief coordinator and a dozen of his workers were killed by an airstrike. In the northwestern areas of Yemen, near the border with Saudi Arabia, scores of civilians have been killed while hiding in their homes, working at farms and factories, or while visiting popular markets, which are vital sources of income, food, and other necessities for most of the populace in the Tihamah coastal region and elsewhere in Yemen. Thousands of people in the northwest have also had to abandon their home towns, seeking safety elsewhere.

Haradh and Abs districts of Hajjah Governorate in particular have been continuously pounded since the first Saudi-orchestrated airstrikes on March 26. The coalition’s air campaign was originally billed as “quick and sharp,” aiming to roll back forces loyal to the Houthi movement and former president ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Saleh, and restore the exiled government in Riyadh to power.

To those ends, warplanes from Saudi Arabia and its allies started to bomb pro-Houthi military bases and weapon depots. Moreover, the Saudi-led coalition imposed a naval and land blockade with the aim of preventing arms shipment from reaching the Houthis.

But the Saudi-led coalition, which receives logistic support and materiel from the US and UK, has also targeted Yemen’s civilian infrastructure, taking a heavy toll on noncombatants, while blocking all commercial imports to Yemen and stalling much-needed humanitarian and medical shipments. According to the United Nations, at least 80% of the population needs some form of humanitarian assistance. Widespread power outages and fuel shortages have forced dozens of hospitals to shut down, while others have had to reduce their operation to the emergency units.

Despite the warnings of impending famine and the dire humanitarian situation across Yemen, the coalition has continued for six months now to bomb residential areas and ravage the country’s infrastructure. Targets of the airstrikes have included government buildings, health facilities, educational institutions, stadiums, seaports, heritage sites, IDP/refugee camps, factories, gas stations, and water storage and processing facilities.

During the past six days alone, at least 90 people have been killed in the capital, Sanʻa, as warplanes target densely-populated areas, including the UNESCO-listed Old City of Sanʻa, where an entire family of 10 members was buried under the rubble of their house this week. More than 70 people were reportedly killed on Sunday as coalition warplanes bombed a local market in Munnabih village of Saʻdah governorate, according to local health officials.

According to the international NGO Oxfam, at least 25,000 airstrikes have hit  Yemen since late March. The organization, one of the aid agencies in the country that has been affected by the aerial attacks, has also said that more than two thirds of the population lack access to clean water, which increases the risk of life-threatening diseases such as malaria, cholera, and diarrhea.

In rural areas of the Tihamah coastal plain, where tropical diseases are seasonally rampant, 41% of the local clean water supply systems—which Oxfam was supporting—have shut down.

In Abs district of Hajjah Governorate, some 30 km away from the town of Haradh—where Abdullah Hadi and most of the local water plant’s workers lived, the water tanks, the vocational training institute, the cultural center, and the central prison were among the public facilities hit by airstrikes, according to local residents .

“The Saudi warplanes appear to strike anything in here and in the neighboring areas as well,” Hafiz Makin, a 36-year-old resident, told the YPP. “A number of houses have even been targeted in particular.”

When the Saudi-led aerial campaign was launched in March, Hafiz was hopeful that the Houthis and their allies would soon be forced to withdraw from the areas they have occupied. “But after more than five months now, we have lost a lot of our loved ones, and virtually lost the life in our hometown,” he said.

Thousands of families in the district of Abs have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety elsewhere. Ali Yahya, a resident of Abs who works as a volunteer for aid agencies in the district, said that the situation in both Abs and Haradh is catastrophic amid daily airstrikes and artillery barrages.

“Most of the basic infrastructure in Abs and Haradh have been bombed; life has become difficult here,” said Yahya, noting that at least 17,000 local residents have been internally displaced. “There are two camps for IDPs in Bani Hassan area, some three kilometers from Abs”

According to several local residents, the water factory shelling was one of the most egregious examples of indiscriminate airstrikes they have seen since March 29, when the Saudi warplanes began to strike in and around Abs district, three days after the start of their aerial campaign in Sanʻa.

Al-Sham Factory, which used to produce large amounts of drinking water bottles, was totally destroyed by a predawn airstrike. “The entire factory was set on fire, engulfed in flames for several hours,” said the owner of the factory, Ali Rozoum.

“It is an overwhelming disaster to almost everyone in the area; thirteen local workers have just been killed all at once.”

September 8-17: Marib offensive heats up, PM returns to Aden

Following the breakdown of UN-backed talks in the Omani capital, Muscat, the envoy to Yemen has urged the warring parties to return to the table to end the six-month conflict. Exiled President Hadi and his government in Riyadh announced Sunday that they will not participate in the upcoming UN peace talks, although the UN Envoy Ould Sheikh Ahmed earlier welcomed the warring parties’ readiness.  

In a statement, Ahmed said that the Houthi and GPC representatives “have shown a great degree of flexibility” during the recent talks held for weeks in Muscat.

Hadi’s announcement came one day after the Saudi-led coalition’s own forces have mounted a fresh offensive in the oil-rich province of Marib, along with trained local tribal fighters.

It’s been five days now since the launch of Marib Offensive, although clashes have reportedly been taking place in the southeastern areas of Marib since last Tuesday, when the Hadi-allied forces along with dozens of armored vehicles were sent from the eastern area of Safer to the headquarters of the 3^rd Military Region and an allied military base nearby.

The southern and western areas have seen attack-and-retreat fighting, with troops from the coalition forces trying to advance eastward to al-Jufaina and al-Fow areas, while others are trying to regain Dhat al-Ra’, where the tribal encampments of both Nakhla and al-Suahil are held by the pro-Houthi forces.  Pro-Houthi forces have been trying to fend off any advancement of their opponents, reportedly using BM-22 rocket launchers against coalition armored vehicles. They claim to have destroyed more than 20 armored vehicles in addition to killing and arresting several troops from the coalition forces.

The UAE government has officially announced that one Emirati soldier was killed in Marib fighting, days after it said that the death toll of its soldiers, who killed by the ballistic missile attack on September 4 in Marib had risen to 52 soldiers. While Qatar’s government has not yet commented officially, Houthi-affiliated media claim that a senior Qatari officer was killed.

The coalition’s fighter jets and Apache helicopters were providing air support/cover in Marib fighting and targeted any suspected movement by the pro-Houthi forces in areas located on the borderlines with Shabwa, al-Baydha and al-Jawf provinces. The warplanes also destroyed the road connecting Marib to the capital, San’a, after it was reportedly designated (by the Popular Resistance) as a military target.

The fighter jets also hit residential areas in several cities and towns, killing dozens of civilians, mostly children and women. On Tuesday alone, at least 10 cities were hit by airstrikes; over a hundred civilians were reportedly killed and wounded. The six-month war has killed more than 4,500 Yemenis and brought the country to the brink of famine.

Across the Saudi border, pro-Houthi units have killed several Saudi soldiers and captured military bases in Najran, Jaizan and Aseer cities. The Saudi government announced that five soldiers were killed in Najran.

Meanwhile, Vice President and Prime Minister Khaled Bahah arrived in Aden along with seven ministers from the government in exile. This second appearance since his first brief visit on the first of August comes as a step toward restoring a government after months of working from exile Riyadh. "Khaled Bahah and the ministers who arrived with him are in Aden to stay permanently," said exiled government spokesman Rajeh Badi.

September 1–7: Airstrikes intensify after Marib missile attack

The UN-backed talks in the Omani capital, Muscat, have failed to bring Yemen’s warring parties any closer to an agreement; pro-Houthi/Saleh units have launched another short-range ballistic missile, killing dozens of Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini troops in Marib, while other units continued to attack Saudi military installations across the border; the coalition has again intensified its airstrikes on Sanʻa and other cities in what has been seen as retaliation for the ballistic missile attack; two brigades of soldiers from Saudi-led coalition have been deployed in Aden; Qatari troops have reportedly joined the battle; fighting in the central governorates of Taʻiz, Ibb, and al-Baydha has been raging on since early last week. Last week, Yemeni political representatives, involved in weeks-long negotiations in Muscat, heatedly debated the seven-point proposal on the table. The Houthis and their allies put forth an initiative, seen as a concession and an alternative to the seven-point proposal, which requires them to implement UNSC resolution 2216 immediately. The initiative includes a number of points, the most important of which is the return of the exiled government to Sanʻa for 90 days. As a result, the negotiations have hit a stumbling block once again. On Monday, September 7, the Houthi and GPC delegates returned to Sanʻa, while reports indicate that disputes among members of the exiled government have started to appear on the surface.

On Friday, another short-range ballistic missile was fired by pro-Houthi/Saleh units toward a camp, some 25 km from Marib city, where coalition forces were deployed as a prelude to an assault on Sanʻa via Marib. The missile attack killed 45 Emirati soldiers, 10 Saudis, and five Bahrainis, in addition to tribal fighters allied with the coalition. The attack came two days after the Chief of Staff and the Interior Minister of the exiled government came to Safer area of Marib. On the day of the attack, the Chief of Staff was reportedly sacked.

The Saudi-led coalition has intensified the aerial bombardment on Sanʻa and other cities, killing scores of civilians. At least 10 cities and towns have been hit over the past week. Since Friday, at least 27 were reportedly killed in Sanʻa alone.

The coalition has deployed 8,000 additional troops in the southern port city of Aden. A brigade including 5,000 Southern Resistance fighters has been reportedly dissolved, after mutiny erupted and the commander was seriously injured. One thousand Qatari troops have also been sent to Yemen, while Sudanese forces are reportedly being prepared to be sent as well.

August 25–31: Fighting rages on in Hudaydah, Ta‘iz, Marib, and Shabwah

As another month of war comes to a close, a peaceful resolution to Yemen’s conflict is no closer. UN-backed talks in the Omani capital, Muscat, seem to be doomed to failure; a Scud missile, reportedly fired from Yemen’s capital towards the Saudi city of Jaizan, was seen as a sign of determination and a message of defiance from the Houth-Saleh alliance; a fresh battle is taking shape in al-Hudaydah; Houthis and their allies have regained more positions in Taʻiz; troops from the Saudi-led coalition, deployed recently in Marib, have already advanced on Shabwah and will return to the neighboring governorates of Marib and al-Jawf ahead of the expected Sanʻa battle, while a brigade involving at least 5000 troops from the Southern Popular Resistance in Aden city has been formed to take charge of the city’s security. At least eight cities have been hit by the airstrikes over the past week, where scores of civilians have reportedly been killed, while Houthi-Saleh units continued to intensify their cross-border attacks on Saudi army installations. The UN special envoy, currently based in Muscat, has been pushing for a political settlement since early last week, but the exiled government in Riyadh is sticking to its previous demand that the Houthis withdraw from occupied cities and hand over their arms prior to any further negotiations. The Houthis, however, warned they would carry out “a disastrous response” if the Muscat talks failed. On Wednesday, a Scud missile was fired from Sanʻa, targeting a power plant in the Saudi city of Jaizan.

In the western coastal governorate of al-Hudaydah, clashes erupted in the southern town of al-Durayhimi between tribal fighters from the Zaraniq tribe and Houthis as they were trying to send reinforcement to Taʻiz. Houthi forces seem poised to take control of the road to Taʻiz, where they have also retaken some western districts.

In the southeastern province of Shabwah, Apache helicopters were seen supporting the Saudi-led coalition forces that advanced to liberate the area late on Friday. Dozens of Houthis were reportedly killed. But in the neighboring governorate of Marib, fighting escalated over the weekend, with the Houthis gaining ground after reportedly using rockets and missiles in the battle.

War's next major front takes shape in al-Hudaydah

The Red Sea coastal city of al-Hudaydah, in western Yemen, is bracing for a major battle, similar to the fight that occurred last month in Aden, as local resistance fighters and coalition forces drove out pro-Houthi troops. Earlier this month, a local group—calling itself the Tihamah Popular Resistance (TPR)—publicly stated that “it will soon start to liberate” al-Hudaydah Governorate from the Houthi presence. Headed by the former governor of al-Hudaydah, Sakhr al-Wajih, the TPR group indicated in a press statement on August 10 that its plan for the “final stage” of liberation has already been established and will be activated shortly. Saudi airstrikes have intensified in and around al-Hudaydah over the past week, a move seen as an attempt by the Saudis and their allies to support this local resistance group, as well as a prelude to deploying ground troops from the Saudi-led coalition’s own forces. But while the airstrikes aim at supporting the local resistance, they have also killed scores of civilians in the area. The airstrikes have also damaged the Hudaydah seaport—Yemen’s second-largest—closing a main import hub for aid supplies to the country’s north.

The TPR includes pro-Islah members and affiliates of the Peaceful Tihami Movement (al-Hirak al-Tihami al-Silmi), also referred to as the Tihami Hirak. The Movement emerged after Yemen’s 2011 popular uprisings, in response to a number of long-term local grievances. Since its inception the Movement has included members from a number of political parties and factions, united by their regional identity. At present the Tihami Hirak and the Islah Party share a common goal: the expulsion of pro-Houthi forces.

The Houthis and their allies, in turn, have intensified their presence by erecting and manning more checkpoints in and around Hudaydah. Checkpoints with armored vehicles can be seen on several streets downtown, and on the roads leading to the neighboring governorates of Taʻiz to the south and Hajjah to the north.

Al-Hudaydah is believed to be of great importance to the Houthis as “it provides them with means of access to cities like Taʻiz, Ibb and Aden,” where resistance fighters have recently gained ground, according to local analyst Alallah Sumam. “It is also a rich source of earnings and supplies through the second largest seaport in the country,” he added.

But most of the local people live below the poverty line, and are struggling to make a living amid the catastrophic situation. Months of airstrikes and low-intensity ground fighting, in addition to the blockade imposed on all the country’s ports, has taken its toll.

“We don’t need fighting [in Hudaydah]; we don’t want to suffer like the Adeni people,” Ahmed Hassan, a 35-year-old local resident who works on motorcycle to make a living for his family, told the YPP. “We are suffering already from the fuel shortages and electricity outages in this heat-scorched city.”  In August the average daily temperature in al-Hudaydah is 91̊ F.

On October 14, 2014, the Houthis entered Hudaydah and seized the main government buildings, over three weeks after they captured the capital, Sanʻa. Three days after they entered the city, a small group of fighters from the Tihami Hirak took up arms to fend off the Houthis when they attempted to capture the Hudaydah Castle, which the Hirak has used as a base since 2012. But the Houthis  swept Hirak members out of their bastion in a matter of hours. Although Hirak fighters have tried to regain the castle, they have each time either driven away or held captives in it.

Since then, the Houthis have maintained a firm hold on the city, while the resistance fighters, who have limited weapons, have been struggling to force them out. According to several observers in al-Hudaydah, the Houthis far outstrip the resistance fighters militarily.

“They grabbed heavy and medium weapons from several depots of military bases in Amran and Sanʻa before they entered Hudaydah,” political analyst and lawyer Ahmed Buraih said in an interview. Buraih also indicated that the Houthis have captured weapons from bases of the land and naval forces in al-Hudaydah since their arrival.

Over the past six months, the Hudaydah resistance has resorted to the hit-and-run approach, while covertly mobilizing more fighters. Resistance fighters have, every now and then, pounced on Houthi checkpoints and trucks in and around Hudaydah, through roadside attacks. Local anti-Houthi activists, however, have often criticized such an approach, which they say echoes al-Qaeda’s tactics.

The Houthis have responded by arresting pro-Islah figures and members of the Tihami Movement as well as local activists and journalists. During the last week, more than a dozen leading members of Islah were abducted in al-Hudaydah, according to an insider and eyewitnesses.

Soon after the TPR statement was issued, resistance fighters increased their attacks in al-Hudaydah Governorate, as the Saudi-led coalition intensified air and naval strikes. Just four days after the statement’s release, Coalition warships bombed pro-Houthi artillery bases in al-Durayhimi town to the south of Hudaydah city, on the road to Taʻiz. Clashes have sporadically taken place outside the town and in other areas nearby.

On August 12, Houthi figure Taha al-Mutawakkil was killed along with his driver in an ambush by resistance fighters to the east of Hudaydah, as they were coming from Sanʻa. Al- Mutawakkil was the Imam of Hashush mosque in Sanʻa, which was attacked in April by the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed group in Yemen.

On August 18, resistance fighters attacked two trucks carrying Houthis in Hudaydah city, while another truck was attacked in Bajil town to east of the city. Several Houthis were reportedly killed and wounded. Meanwhile, fighters fired rockets on a Houthi checkpoint to the south of al-Hudaydah. Four Houthis were killed while five others were injured.

On August 23, resistance fighters attacked a Houthi checkpoint some 45 km north of the city on the road to the town of Haradh in Hajjah, killing three and wounding four others.

On August 25, clashes between resistance fighters and Houthis resumed near the towns of al-Durayhimi and Bayt al-Faqih on the southern road to Taʻiz, as coalition airstrikes provided cover for the resistance.

A local source said that the Houthis were using the road to send reinforcement to Taʻiz, where Houthis and their allies seem to have retaken a number of positions. “But tribal fighters from the Zaraniq tribe, headed by Shaykh Yahya Munassir, intercepted them and clashes ensued,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal.

August 18–24: Conflict escalates in al-Hudaydah, Ta‘iz, and Marib

The last week has seen some of the most brutal days of war in the poorest of the Arab states. Despite the UN and aid agencies warnings of eminent famine, Yemen’s conflict and associated humanitarian disaster are no closer to resolution. The Saudi-led airstrikes have been intensified, killing dozens of civilians; fighting has returned to areas of the country the coalition had claimed to have “liberated”; more coalition forces were deployed; al-Qaeda carried out brazen attacks in southern Yemen, while the Islamic State carried its first attack in the east; cross-border attacks by pro-Houthi/Saleh units have escalated as well. The UN-backed political talks in Oman seemed to have come to a standstill on Friday. But two days later, the UN Envoy resumed the talks after he met the exiled president in Riyadh, who tendered on Thursday a proposal to the UNSC chief for a conditional 15-day ceasefire. On the other hand, the head of the Houthi “Revolutionary Committee” sent a letter on Saturday, urging the UNSC to stop the Saudi-led war against Yemen, where the humanitarian situation has become more catastrophic.

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien said Wednesday that the scale of human suffering in Yemen was “almost incomprehensible,” with a “shocking” four out of five Yemenis requiring humanitarian assistance and nearly 1.5 million people internally displaced. For its part, WFP estimates that the number of food insecure people in Yemen is now close to 13 million, including 6 million who are severely food insecure and in urgent need of external assistance; that is 20% of the country’s population.

Meanwhile, the Saudi airstrikes have escalated. In three consecutive days, coalition warplanes killed at least 80 civilians. On Tuesday, 21 educators were killed as they were in a meeting discussing the examinations process for schools. On Wednesday, at least 13 people were killed when four airstrikes hit a local market in al-Dhahi town to the north of al-Hudaydah. On the same day, the Hudaydah seaport was knocked out by at least eight airstrikes. On Thursday, 65 civilians were killed in Taʻiz.

Clashes raged on inTaʻiz and Abyan, as the coalition deployed ground troops. On Sunday, the coalition deployed thousands of troops with heavy armaments in the eastern province of Marib.

Across Yemen’s northern border, the pro-Houthi/Saleh units have intensively been shelling Saudi military bases in both cities of Najran and Jaizan. On Thursday, a ballistic short-range missile was fired against a naval base in Jaizan. The units have also pushed inland and killed a brigade commander in Jaizan.

Taking the advantage of months-long chaos, al-Qaeda in the south has reportedly seized areas in the port city of Aden [editor’s note: reports on this situation have been the subject of controversy. Here’s another take, as reported in the New York Times]. The Islamic State’s self-proclaimed group in Yemen claimed its responsibility for attacking a military post in the eastern province of Hadramout.

August 3–17: Resistance takes much of Taʻiz, coalition pushes inland

Fighting in the southern part of Yemen has expanded over the past two weeks, as Southern Resistance, Emirati, and coalition forces have advanced inland from Aden to drive Houthi/Saleh forces out of adjacent governorates. Locals in and around Aden have discovered thousands of landmines planted by the pro-Houthi/Saleh forces before they were driven out of the area. Coalition-trained Yemeni fighters, along with Saudi and Emirati soldiers, have pushed further into Abyan province after they captured the largest military base in al-Anad of Lahj province along with other bases nearby. Three Emirati soldiers were killed after their armored vehicle was hit by a landmine. Over 100 civilians were reportedly killed by landmines in the south. Demining teams are working quickly to clear the mines where possible.

With fighter jets and Apache helicopters providing air cover for battle tanks and other armored vehicles, the resistance and its allies launched the Abyan offensive to liberate the province. After four days of clashes, the coalition reported that it had entirely regained Abyan. The have already advanced on the neighboring province of Shabwa. According to some reports, however, Ansar al-Shariʻah-affiliated fighters led by Jalal Bilʻaydi, who commanded the AAS takeover of Abyan in 2012, entered and took control of Zinjibar as soon as Houthi/Saleh forces left the city.

President Hadi in Riyadh has issued a decree, appointing governors for the “liberated” governorates of Lahj and Abyan. On the other hand, the Houthi “Revolutionary Committee” in Sanʻa appointed deputy governors for a number of governorates.

Moreover, at least 11 cities were hit by the Saudi-led airstrikes during the last week. On Sunday, scores of people were reportedly killed in Ibb, Amran and Taʻiz.

Dragging on for the fifth month now, the war has so far claimed the lives of more than 4000 people, while the humanitarian and health situation is increasingly disastrous. ICRC President Peter Mauer arrived in the capital to assess the situation in Yemen. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mauer said that the months-long blockades imposed on all the country’s ports have led to “overwhelming catastrophic situations.”

Meanwhile, clashes in several cities including Taiz, Ibb, Marib and Dhalea cities have also intensified. Resistance fighters have gained ground, while dozens of pro-Houthi/Saleh forces were reportedly killed in the three fronts. On Sunday the 16^th, resistance forces in Taʻiz reported significant gains in that city.

Across the borderline, pro-Houthi/Saleh units have intensified their missile attacks over the past week, hitting several military bases in Najran and Jaizan cities. Backed by armed tribesmen, the units reportedly advanced on a base outside Najran, killing at least 16 soldiers. The Saudi army claimed to have successfully repelled this attack on Sunday.

Pro-Houthi tribal loyalists have been mobilized in several cities as a matter of supporting the so-called ‘strategic options’, to which the Houthi top leader has referred in his recent televised speech.

In Sanʻa, Houthis arrested several Islah-affiliated figures including women. Meanwhile, clashes in the northern district of Arhab have erupted between pro-Islah armed tribesmen and Houthi fighters, shortly after the security services were put on high alert in the capital. Three days later, IS group carried out a car bomb in the north of Sanʻa that resulted in no casualties.

Facing both fierce resistance and financial crisis, the Houthis sent delegates to the Omani capital, Muscat, to participate in the ongoing political talks with all Yemeni factions. However, the exiled Yemeni government in Riyadh has announced that an initiative shall be brokered in the upcoming days for resuming the long-stalled political process.

July 20–August 2: Another ceasefire fails

With intensified airstrikes, which have killed scores of civilians, along with relentless fighting over the southern port city of Aden, the situation in Yemen has escalated over the past two weeks in the face of continuing international calls for a ceasefire. On July 25, Saudi Arabia announced a unilateral humanitarian pause, scheduled to go into effect the following day, which Yemenis and international observers hoped would provide an opportunity for badly-needed aid to enter the country. This pause, however, was quickly broken by both Saudi-led airstrikes and ground combat, just two hours after it went into effect. Each side blamed the other for violating the respite, echoing the scenario seen on the first day of a previous humanitarian pause. Pro-Houthi/Saleh forces continued their attacks in Aden city, where they shelled the international airport and neighborhoods recently captured by the resistance. Likewise, Coalition airstrikes continued to pound the bases of those forces in Aden and elsewhere.

Just before announcing the planned ceasefire, Saudi planes bombed civilian residences in the Red Sea coast city of Mokha, killing at least 65 people in an attack that Human Rights Watch has called “an apparent war crime.”

In an attempt to “entirely liberate” Aden and advance into other cities, at least 3000 Coalition-trained Yemeni fighters have reportedly been deployed in Aden—one day after Vice President/PM Khaled Bahah briefly visited the city with six other ministers from the Hadi government in exile. The trip was seen as the first step toward restoring the government’s provisional capital. On the same day, President Hadi issued a decree appointing three new advisors. Hadi has also recently announced plans to unite all local resistance groups into the “national army,” a plan that will likely face resistance.

The leader of the Houthi Movement, ‘Abd al-Malik al-Houthi, made a televised speech on August 2, trying to justify his loss of Aden while continuing to defy the Saudi-led coalition.

Although Aden has been the epicenter of Yemen’s civil conflict, other areas including Lahj, Abyan, al-Baydha, Taʻiz and Marib have seen violent clashes between the pro-Houth/Saleh forces and the resistance fighters over the past week.

Missile attacks across the Saudi border have also continued. Pro-Houthi/Saleh units have recently fired tens of missiles at Najran and Jaizan cities, part of what they have described as “the strategic options.” A number of Saudi soldiers were reportedly killed and captured.

In the capital, Sanʻa, the self-proclaimed local chapter of the Islamic State (IS) has, for the first time, attacked a mosque frequented by members of the Isma’ili sect, commonly known as Bohrah, who are seen by some as supportive of Houthis. At least 10 people were killed and wounded.

July 7-15: Ceasefire fails, resistance gains ground in Aden

Despite the “humanitarian pause” announced last week by UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Saudi-led airstrikes and ground combat continued in several parts of Yemen last week. Pro-Houthi/Saleh units continued to carry out cross-border attacks on Saudi military bases. UN officials and international aid organizations reported that 21.1 million people urgently need humanitarian relief. On Thursday, the UN envoy to Yemen stated that parties had agreed on a weeklong humanitarian pause, which would come into effect on Friday at midnight. But Saudi Arabia and its allies continued their aerial attacks, claiming that they had not received instructions to stop from the Hadi government, directly contradicting the UN envoy’s statement.

At least 10 cities across the country have been hit over the past week by airstrikes targeting pro-Houthi/Saleh bases in densely populated areas. Over 20 people were killed in Sanʻa in the first two days of the unobserved truce.

Grain mills and water tanks in Aden were pounded by airstrikes, while Houthi/Saleh fighters continued to shell Aden’s oil refinery and the adjacent port. The outpatient clinics of the military hospital in Sanʻa and the Haradh Public Hospital in Hajjah were both knocked out. The national cement factory was struck in Amran. The Health Ministry in Sanʻa reported that “medical services have totally stopped in 11 provinces.”

Meanwhile, fighting on the ground between Houthi/Saleh forces and local resistance groups raged on in Aden, Lahj, al-Dhaliʻ, Taʻiz, Marib, and al-Jawf.

Saudi planes also continued to provide air cover for resistance fighters in those six areas, despite an allegedly botched airstrike on a military base in Hadramout, which killed over 50 soldiers believed to be loyal to Hadi. Resistance fighters in Aden regained control of several areas on Tuesday, including the international airport. This victory has served as a morale boost for the wider resistance. President Hadi’s representatives announced that the exiled president was personally overseeing the Aden counteroffensive, dubbed Operation Golden Arrow. Disputing more credible accounts, the Houthi-controlled state press agency reported on Wednesday that Houthi/Saleh forces had defeated the resistance and were in control of al-Mansurah district.

On the Yemen-Saudi borders, Houthi/Saleh units have continued to launch missile attacks on military bases outside Najran and Jaizan cities. On several occasions, these units have also made forays across the borders to these Saudi bases.

June 30–July 6: UN envoy pushes for humanitarian pause, civilian toll rises

Following last month’s failed peace talks in Geneva, the past week started with renewed efforts by UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to achieve a humanitarian pause during the holy month of Ramadan. Last week the envoy met with the exiled government in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where a seven-point proposal was tendered; on Sunday Ahmed arrived in Sanʻa to discuss the proposal with Houthi and GPC leaders. But a Scud missile, which was fired late on Tuesday night at a Saudi airbase outside Riyadh, added new tension to the process of the political negations. Saudi forces have traded missile attacks across the border with Houthi-Saleh units, which have also carried out hit-and-run assaults on Saudi military sites outside Jaizan and Najran cities near the boundary. The Houthi leadership reportedly refused the exiled government’s first cease-fire proposal, which called for the deployment of regional observers.

Toward the end of the week, the UN—along with both US State Department and EU officials—attempted to put pressure on Saudi Arabia to reach a deal. But Saudi airstrikes intensified in several cities, where dozens of civilians have been killed, a move that was seen as a Saudi response to the UN-backed efforts. The capital Sanʻa has since been hit by heavier bombardment, after a lull of nearly five days. On Monday, a Saudi airstrike reportedly hit a public market in Lahj, just north of Aden, killing 45 civilians and injuring dozens more.

Over the weekend, Houthi delegates in the Omani capital, Muscat, met with the UN envoy; “a humanitarian pause was discussed,” according to press accounts. On Sunday, the Houthi supporters in Sanʻa staged a mass rally, condemning “the Saudi aggression and the UN’s careless position on the humanitarian situation,” hours after Special Envoy Ahmed arrived at the city’s international airport.

While the Houthis mull over forming a new government or a presidential council, Saleh’s GPC party and the Yemeni Socialist Party have both refused such a move.