The war in Yemen is hotting up with mounting casualties for the Saudi army. Saudi Arabia launched an attack on the Houthi regime in Yemen along with its allies about two years back. Despite extensive use of airpower, the war is nowhere near conclusion. The Houthi's have proved to be resilient and have retaliated with attacks on the Saudi-led coalition that has led to many casualties. The Yemen Press has reported that Close on the heels of five Saudi soldiers being shot dead by snipers at Jizan five days back, one more soldier has been shot dead in Asir.
Attacks
These attacks show that the Houthi's are far from being defeated and they have been firing artillery guns and launching an occasional missile against Saudi Arabia. The Houthi's have no worthwhile airforce and hence its a bit of a surprise that the Houthis have held on for so long against the Saudi led coalition. The reason is the support of Iran, which has been backing the Houthi forces against the Saudi forces. The war in Yemen in a way is an extension of Iran-Saudi Arabia rivalry for control of the Middle East.
History
Yemen and the nearby UAE for decades were under control of the British Empire. After the British victory over Germany in World War II, a greatly weakened Britain could not hold on to these colonies.
One by one starting with India, the British handed over self -government to its colonies. It also exited the Middle East and the UAE.
Yemen had a despotic regime for decades but the Arab Spring affected Yemen also and the president Ali Abdullah Saleh had to leave. No democracy was ushered in and he was replaced by more despotic leaders.
The trouble began when Saudi Arabia-supported President had to flee after Iranian supported groups who were basically Shia took over Yemen. The BBC has reported that the Saudi's intervened in 2015 with the aim of restoring the old regime but in two years of fighting and heavy air bombing the Saudi forces are nowhere close to their objective.
Air campaign
The war in Yemen has had a negative effect and hospitals, roads and other places have been destroyed and the UN has estimated that over 13,000 deaths have taken place. A major factor in this entire conflict is the air campaign. Another factor is Iran, which is fomenting trouble in a number of places by supporting the Iraqi and Syria government. Its hand is also evident in Yemen and in all probability, the military hardware is coming from Iran.
Future
The war in Yemen is nowhere near conclusion and the Saudi alliance will have to think afresh what to do in the future
