Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen

The Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen is an intervention launched by Saudi Arabia on 26 March 2015, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, in response to calls from the pro-Saudi president of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after he was ousted by the Houthi movement due to economic and political grievances, and fled to Saudi Arabia.

Code-named Operation Decisive Storm (Arabic: عملية عاصفة الحزم‎ Amaliyyat ‘Āṣifat al-Ḥazm), the intervention initially consisted of a bombing campaign on Houthi rebels and later a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces into Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition has attacked the positions of the Houthi militia, and loyalists of the former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, allegedly supported by Iran (see Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict).

Fighter jets and ground forces from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Academi (formerly called Blackwater) took part in the operation. Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia made their airspace, territorial waters, and military bases available to the coalition.

The United States provided intelligence and logistical support, including aerial refueling and search-and-rescue for downed coalition pilots. It also accelerated the sale of weapons to coalition states and continued strikes against AQAP. The US and Britain have deployed their military personnel in the command and control centre responsible for Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, having access to lists of targets.

The war received widespread criticism and had a dramatic worsening effect on Yemen’s humanitarian situation, that reached the level of a “humanitarian disaster” or “humanitarian catastrophe”, and many have labelled it as a genocide.

The question of whether or not the intervention is in compliance with Article 2(4) of the UN Charter has been the matter of academic dispute.

The conflict’s status was described a “military stalemate” in 2019. The global COVID-19 pandemic is said to have given Saudi Arabia an opportunity to review its interests in Yemen. In early 2020, it was said that Saudi Arabia was searching for an exit strategy, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and military defeats.