The Brief, No. 15
22 January 2022
When Saudi Arabia led a coalition to fight the insurgency in Yemen following the ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2015, it promised a swift operation.
Almost 7 years later the Saudi led coalition in Yemen is still battling the Houthi fighters.
The Houthis, with the assistance of Iran, have since improved their fighting skills and indeed their war arsenal.
Last week the Houthis used drones to attack certain installations in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abhu Dhabi, causing significant destruction. The are reports that drones were also used to attack certain Saudi cities.
On Friday, 21 January 2022, Saudi Arabia retaliated to those strikes bombing a number of key installations in Yemen including a prison in northern Yemen. Dozens of civilians including children were killed.
The United Nations (UN) has called for calm and de-escalation. Will the warring sides heed the call by the UN?
Saudi Arabia is the only major power remaining in the coalition. The UAE partially withdrew from the coalition and Qatar pulled out from the coalition in 2017. Qatar pulled out after three members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) led a blockage against that country.
Thembisa Fakude Senior Research Fellow at Afrasid has researched and published extensively on the politics of the Gulf.