In March 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by Western governments, including the US, France, and the UK, began a heavy and prolonged air bombing campaign against Yemen. According to the UN, the war has killed at least two hundred and thirty thousand people.
Much of the country’s already weak infrastructure is now destroyed. The multi-national military intervention came after Houthi rebel forces removed the internationally recognized government in late 2014. As the war progressed, the Houthis rebels, who have long been allied with Iran, seized control of vast areas of the country.
From 2015 until the present day, the war has been fought on many shifting fronts, from Al Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast to the now-divided city of Taiz. In 2020, the fighting flared in the desert region of Ma'rib as the Houthis pushed toward the country's oil fields. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that almost four million people have fled their homes due to conflict, with many now living in scattered internally displaced person (IDP) settlements.
Since early 2016, the Saudi-led coalition has imposed an ongoing blockade of critical imports into Red Sea ports that serve much of northern Yemen. Food, medicine, and fuel are often prohibitively expensive due to complications associated with port restrictions.
‘Yemen: Conflict+Chaos' portrays a country fractured by war and tribal division, where the civilian population exists trapped in a timeless yet haunted present.
