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[[Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] exploited the chaos in Yemen to [[Battle of Al Mukalla|capture]] the southeastern port city of [[Al Mukalla]] in early April.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/middleeast/yemen-al-qaeda-attack.html?_r=0 |title=Saudi Leaders Have High Hopes for Yemen Airstrikes, but Houthi Attacks Continue |date=2 April 2015|accessdate=4 April 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
[[Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] exploited the chaos in Yemen to [[Battle of Al Mukalla|capture]] the southeastern port city of [[Al Mukalla]] in early April.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/middleeast/yemen-al-qaeda-attack.html?_r=0 |title=Saudi Leaders Have High Hopes for Yemen Airstrikes, but Houthi Attacks Continue |date=2 April 2015|accessdate=4 April 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==Food, water and power crisis==
Update by CNN highlights deteriorated situation in Yemen stating that almost 10,160,000 Yemenis are deprived of water, food and electricity. Also added per sources from [[UNICEF]] officials at Yemen that within 15 days some 100,000 people across the country have to suffer dislocation, while Oxfam says that more than 10 million Yemenis do not have enough food to eat, in addition to 850,000 half-starved children. It also disclosed that over 13 million civilians have no access to clean water.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tim Lister | url= http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/08/middleeast/yemen-saudi-6-things-lister/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_world+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+World%29 | title=The war in Yemen is getting worse -- and a civilian catastrophe is looming | publisher=CNN.Com | date=April 8, 2015 | accessdate=April 8, 2015}}</ref> <ref> {{cite web |author= MARIA ABI-HABIB |url= http://www.wsj.com/articles/humanitarian-crisis-deepens-in-embattled-yemen-city-1428340706 |title=Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in Embattled Yemen City |publisher=The Wall Street Journal | date=April 6, 2015 |accessdate= April 8, 2015}} </ref>


==ceasefire==
==ceasefire==

Revision as of 23:24, 8 April 2015

See also: Southern Yemen offensive (2015)

2015 military intervention in Yemen
Part of the Aftermath of the 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état and the Yemeni Crisis

The situation in Yemen, as of 5 April 2015:
  Controlled by Houthis
  Controlled by Hadi loyalists
  Controlled by al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia
(See also a detailed map)
Date25 March 2015 – present (9 years, 10 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Location
Yemen
Result Ongoing
Belligerents

 Gulf Cooperation Council[1][2]

 Egypt[5][6]
 Jordan[5]
 Morocco[5]
 Sudan[5]
Supported by:
 Somalia[7]
 United States[8]
In support of:
Yemen Yemen (Hadi government)

Yemen Yemen (Revolutionary Committee)

Supported by:

 Iran[9] (alleged)[10]
Commanders and leaders

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani
Saudi Arabia King Salman

Yemen Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi

Yemen Mohammed Ali al-Houthi  (WIA)
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi
Ali Abdullah Saleh

Ahmed Ali Saleh (son of Ali Abdullah Saleh)[11]
Strength
Saudi Arabia 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers (claim)[12]
United Arab Emirates 30 warplanes[13]
Bahrain 15 warplanes[13]
Kuwait 15 warplanes[13]
Qatar 10 warplanes[13]
Jordan 6 warplanes[13]
Morocco 6 warplanes[13]
Sudan 4 warplanes[14]
Egypt 4 warships[15] and an unknown number of warplanes[16]		 100,000 Houthi fighters (claim)[17] and unknown number of Yemeni soldiers
Casualties and losses
Ground losses:
Saudi Arabia 3 soldiers killed,[18] 10 wounded[19]
Aerial losses:
Confirmed by Coalition:
Saudi Arabia 1 F-15S crashed (non-combat)[20]
Claimed by Houthis:
Saudi Arabia 2 warplanes shot down[21]
Sudan 1 warplane shot down and 1 pilot captured[22]
1 drone shot down[23]		 122 killed[24][25][26][27][28]
200 civilians killed[29] (88 in Sana'a)[30]
Part of a series on the
Yemeni crisis
Main topics
Background

Saudi Arabia began carrying out airstrikes in neighbouring Yemen on 25 March 2015, heralding the start of a military intervention in Yemen, codenamed Operation Decisive Storm[13] (Arabic: عملية عاصفة الحزم). The intervention began in response to requests for assistance from the internationally recognized but domestically contested Yemeni government, due to a Houthi offensive aimed at its provisional capital of Aden. Yemeni President Hadi fled Aden, left the country and went to Saudi Arabia as Saudi Arabia and its allies launched airstrikes in Yemen against the Houthis and loyalists forces.[31]

Warplanes from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain are also taking part in the operation. In addition, Egypt and Sudan have said they will commit ground troops in Saudi Arabia. Somalia has made its airspace, territorial waters, and military bases available for the coalition to use.[7] The United States has provided intelligence and logistical support, including search-and-rescue for downed coalition pilots,[8] and accelerated the sale of weapons to coalition states.[32] Pakistan was also called on by Saudi Arabia to join the coalition, but it has not decided whether to commit forces.[5][33][34]

100,000 people have been displaced,[35] with many countries, such as China, Pakistan and India[36] evacuating citizens.[37] Many groups have begun to flee Yemen for northern Somalia and Djibouti.[38] In addition, the attacks have claimed the lives of 200 civilians,[29] of which 88 were killed in Sana'a.[30]

Background

See also: Houthi insurgency in Yemen and Aftermath of the 2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état
Ethnoreligious groups in 2002. Zaydi Shi'a followers make up about 35-40% of Muslims in Yemen.[39]

The Houthis (or Ansar Allah), a Zaidi Shia movement and militant group thought to be backed by Iran, took control of the Yemeni government through a series of steps in 2014 and 2015, which Saudi Arabia and other countries denounced as an unconstitutional coup d'état. By 25 March 2015, the internationally recognized but domestically contested president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was holed up in Aden in southern Yemen, which he had declared the temporary capital, and forces answering to Sana'a were rapidly closing in on the port city.[40]

During the Houthis' southern offensive, Saudi Arabia began a military buildup on its border with Yemen.[41] In response, a Houthi commander boasted that his troops would counterattack against any Saudi aggression and would not stop until they had taken Riyadh, the Saudi capital.[42]

Yemen's foreign minister, Riad Yassin, requested military assistance from the Arab League on 25 March, amid reports that Hadi had fled his provisional capital.[43][44] On 26 March, Saudi state TV station Al-Ekhbariya TV reported that Hadi arrived at a Riyadh airbase and was met by Saudi Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud. His route from Aden to Riyadh was not immediately known.[45]

Retrospective and prospective gist of conflict

An analyst with Tel Aviv's Institute for National Security Studies (Israel) (INSS) disclosed that the Saudi Ambassador to Washington refuted chapter of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran while defending the operation stating that the air compaign “a combat of necessity” intended to rebuild the stability in the neighboring part with a view to safeguarding the interests of Yemeni people and alleged their ties both to Iran and Hezbollah. Another INSS expert on Arab militaries is certain that remarkable chaos is under process in Middle East, and the region would be different from as it is and as it was. Some analysts revealed further that the turmoil began 4 years back by staging a pro-democracy manifestation and then shifted into sectarian and ethnic-based conflicts with aims of re-drawing of national borders established by colonial powers.[46][47][48]

The Houthis signify a marginal representation among Yemen’s mostly Sunni Muslims, the popularity of this cluster has received energy from Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who holds influence and still enjoys loyalty in the important segments of the military and security service of disintegrated Yemen. This is a ground fact which is playing a significant role in strength and gains of Houthis, in addition to other factors.[49][50]

Military operations

According to the Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia is contributing 100 warplanes and 150,000 soldiers to the military operation in Yemen. According to Reuters, planes from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain are also taking part in the operation. In addition, Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan are ready to participate in a ground offensive.[5]

Kuwait sent three squadrons of F/A-18 Hornet aircraft to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Yemen offensive.[51] The UAE contributed 30 fighter jets, Kuwait and Bahrain 15 each, Qatar 10, Jordan and Morocco six each, and Sudan four.[13][14][52]


Air campaign

March 2015

In a joint statement, the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (with the exception of Oman) said they decided to intervene against the Houthis in Yemen at the request of Hadi's government.[53]

The Saudi-led coalition declared Yemeni airspace to be a restricted area, with King Salman declaring the RSAF to be in full control of the zone.[13] Saudi Arabia began airstrikes, reportedly relying on United States intelligence reports and surveillance images to select and hit targets, including weapons and aircraft on the ground.[54] Al Arabiya said the first round of strikes targeted the military airbase at Sana'a International Airport and destroyed much of Yemen's air defences.[13] According to Saudi officials, the strikes also destroyed a number of Yemeni warplanes on the ground.[6] Al Jazeera reported that Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a Houthi commander appointed in February as president of the Revolutionary Committee, was injured and three other Houthi commanders were killed by airstrikes in Sana'a.[55]

Al-Masirah TV, a Yemeni station controlled by the Houthis, reported that airstrikes hit a residential neighborhood north of Sana'a, causing dozens of casualties including children.[56]

Saudi strikes on 26 March also hit Al Anad Air Base, a former U.S. special operations forces facility in Lahij Governorate seized by Houthis earlier in the week.[57] The targets reportedly also included the missile base in Sana'a controlled by the Houthis and the fuel depot at the base.[5] Strikes overnight also targeted Houthis in Taiz and Sa'dah. Thousands demonstrated in Sana'a against the intervention, which ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh also condemned.[58]

The scope of strikes expanded further on 27 March, with a radar installation in the Ma'rib Governorate and an airbase in the Abyan Governorate coming under air attack. The commander of the Saudi-led operation dismissed reports of civilian casualties, saying airstrikes were being carried out with precision.[59]

Additional strikes early in the morning on 28 March hit targets in Al Hudaydah, Sa'dah, and the Sana'a area, as well as Ali Abdullah Saleh's main base. Rumours indicated Saleh fled to Sanhan, on the outskirts of the Houthi-controlled capital.[60] More strikes destroyed part of a Houthi convoy of tanks, armoured vehicles, and trucks heading from Shuqrah toward Aden.[61] An Aden government official said Saudi strikes destroyed a long-range missile facility controlled by the Houthis.[62]

The Houthis claimed the shootdown of a Sudanese Air Force plane over northern Sana'a and the capture of its pilot on 28 March. The Sudanese government denied that any of its four warplanes participating in the operation had come under fire or been shot down.[14]

Airstrikes hit an arms depot, military airbase, and special forces headquarters in Sana'a early on 29 March. A weapons depot outside Sana'a was destroyed, causing damage to an airport and planes on the ground. Sa'dah and Al Hudaydah were targeted as well. Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri, the coalition's spokesman, said Saudi artillery and Apache attack helicopters were mobilised to "deter" Houthi fighters massing on the border with Saudi Arabia.[63] Asiri also claimed strikes hit Scud missiles and pushed Houthis out of airbases throughout Yemen, destroying every jet fighter remaining on the ground in the country.[64]

On 30 March, at least 40 people including children were killed and 200 were injured[65] by an airstrike that hit Al-Mazraq refugee camp near a military installation in northern district of Haradh. The Houthis said the attack killed women and children, although witnesses told the Associated Press that the camp was occupied by the Houthis and most of the casualties were fighters. Airstrikes also hit areas near the presidential palace in Sana'a,[66] as well as Aden International Airport.[67]

During an Arab League summit, coalition states obtained permission from the government of Somalia to use its Berbera and Bosaso military bases to attack the Houthis, as well as the free use of Somali airspace and territorial waters.[68][69]

At least five airstrikes were conducted in support of Hadi loyalists in the Ad Dali' Governorate on 31 March. Strikes were also reported in the northern Sa'dah and Hajjah governorates, with Saudi helicopters being sent across the border.[67]

Food storage of Yemen Economic Corporation in Hodeidah was destroyed by three coalition's strikes on March 31, according to the Houthi-controlled defence ministry.[70]

April 2015

There were dozens of casualties from an explosion at a dairy and oil factory in Al Hudaydah, which was variously blamed on an airstrike or a rocket from a nearby military base launched shortly after midnight on 1 April. Medical sources reported 25 deaths, while the Yemen Army said 37 were killed and 80 wounded.[71] Airstrikes also hit targets in Sa'dah on 1 April.[29]

In Ad Dali', the pro-Houthi 33rd Brigade of the Yemen Army was hit by repeated airstrikes. Its commander reportedly fled and the brigade disintegrated.[72]

Despite persistent airstrikes, the Houthis and allied units continued to advance on central Aden, backed by tanks and heavy artillery.[73][74] The Houthis seized the presidential palace on 2 April, but reportedly withdrew after overnight air raids early the next day.[75] Coalition planes also airdropped weapons and medical aid to pro-Hadi fighters in Aden.[76]

A family of nine was killed and other civilians wounded by an airstrike on Okash village near Sana'a on 4 April, residents said.[77]

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on 5 April that it had received permission from the coalition to fly medical supplies and aid workers into Sana'a and was awaiting permission to send a surgical team by boat to Aden.[78]

On 6 April, airstrikes began before sunset and struck targets in western Sana'a, Sa'dah, and the Ad Dali' Governorate, a supply route for Houthis in the Battle of Aden.[79]

Airstrikes on 7 April hit a Republican Guard base in the Ibb Governorate, injuring 25 troops. Yemeni sources claimed three children at a nearby school were also killed by the attack[80] and six were injured.[81]

The coalition hit arms depots in northern Aden on 8 April, causing three large explosions, according to residents.[82]

Egypt and Saudi Arabia were quick to commit warships to support the coalition's operations.[83] Somalia also offered the Saudi-led coalition the use of its airspace and territorial waters.[7]

Four Egyptian Navy vessels crossed the Suez Canal and steamed toward the Gulf of Aden after operations began. They were expected to reach the Red Sea late on 26 March.[57] Saudi Arabia officially requested access from the Somali Government to use its airspace and waters to carry out operations against the Houthi rebels.[84] On 27 March, the Egyptian military said a squadron of Egyptian and Saudi warships took up positions at the Bab al-Mandab strait.[59] The Saudi military threatened to destroy any ship attempting to make port in Yemen.[85]

Two Saudi F-15S pilots were rescued by a United States Air Force Pararescue unit from Camp Lemonnier on 27 March, after a mechanical issue forced them to bail out in the Gulf of Aden just south of Yemen.[86]

The Royal Saudi Navy evacuated diplomats and United Nations staff from Aden to Jeddah on 28 March.[61]

Witnesses told Reuters that Egyptian warships bombarded Houthi positions as they attempted to advance on Aden on 30 March.[87] Warships again fired on Houthi positions at Aden International Airport on or about 1 April.[29]

Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the foreign minister of Djibouti, said the Houthis placed heavy weapons and fast attack boats on Perim and a smaller island in the Bab al-Mandab strait. He warned that "the prospect of a war in the strait of Bab al-Mandab is a real one" and said the weapons posed "a big danger" to his country, commercial shipping traffic, and military vessels. He called on the coalition to clear the islands of the Houthi weaponry, which he said included missiles and long-range cannons.[88]

On 4 April, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called protecting Red Sea shipping and securing the Bab al-Mandab "a top priority for Egypt's national security".[89]

Iranian involvement

Iran is widely believed to supply the Houthis with weapons and training,[90] although it did not move to defend them militarily against the Saudi-led military campaign, which it condemned.[91]

On 8 April, Iranian Press TV announced the deployment of two Islamic Republic of Iran Navy warships, a destroyer and a support vessel, to the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy operations.[82][92]

Ground clashes

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have stated their readiness to participate in a ground campaign in Yemen.[93] Sudan has also said it is stationing ground troops in Saudi Arabia to contribute to the intervention.[94]

On 31 March, Saudi and Houthi forces reportedly traded artillery and rocket fire across the border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.[67][95] A Saudi border guard was killed on 2 April, the first confirmed coalition casualty of the campaign.[96] A civilian Egyptian truck driver reportedly suffered critical injuries from Houthi artillery shelling at the border on the same day. He later died in a Yemeni hospital under the control of the Houthis.[97]

Saudi Arabia reportedly began removing sections of the Saudi–Yemen barrier fence along its border with the Sa'dah and Hajjah governorates of Yemen on 3 April. The purpose of the removal was not immediately clear.[98]

Two more Saudi border guards were killed on 3 April in the 'Asir Region, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.[99]

On 7 April , in Pakistan’s Parliament was propounded that Saudi Arabia had asked Pakistan for military equipment including aircraft, warships and soldiers to join its offensive against the Houthis in Yemen. Pakistan’s defense minister believed that Saudi Arabia plans to expand war. Although the use of this equipment is not specified by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is one supporter for the ground attack.[100]

Special forces

See also: Battle of Aden

CNN reported on 3 April, citing an unnamed Saudi source, that Saudi special forces were on the ground in and around Aden, "coordinating and guiding" the resistance in the city to the Houthis.[101] The Saudi government has officially declined to comment on whether it has special forces operating in Yemen, with Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir saying on 2 April that Saudi Arabia has no "formal" troops in Aden.[98]

Casualties

  • On March 26, Interior Ministry officials linked to Ansar Allah documented that 23 civilians had been killed and 24 wounded. Among the dead were 5 children, ages 2 to 13, 6 women, and an elderly man, they said. The wounded included 12 children, ages 3 to 8, and 2 women due to airstrike against Sana'a particularly in Bani Hawat, a predominantly Houthi neighborhood near Sanaa’s international and military airports, and al-Nasr, near the presidential palace. Human Rights Watch documented the deaths of 11 civilians, including 2 women and 2 children, other than those provided by the Yemeni officials as well as 14 more wounded, including 3 children and 1 woman. According to Amnesty International, that bombing destroyed at least 14 homes in Bani Hawat.[102]
  • On March 31, Tuesday's statement from Geneva said U.N. human rights staffers in Yemen verified when airstrikes hit a refugee camp near the Houthi stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen, at least 19 civilians died. Also it reports at least 35 wounded, including 11 children. According to the U.N. human rights office in Geneva, in the past five days from the first day of military intervention, at least 93 civilians have been killed including 62 children and 364 wounded of which 30 were children[103] in five Yemeni cities engulfed in the violence, including, Sanaa. The overall figures are probably much higher and it was not immediately clear if the casualties cited by Geneva referred to just airstrikes or the strikes and fighting between Yemen's warring factions.[104]
  • On March 31, Saudi-led coalition forces raided Ibb governorate on Tuesday, leaving at least 11 civilians dead and 32 injured, 3 Houthis rebels were killed.[105] At least 10 civilians were killed and 13 injured in Saudi-led aerial strikes Monday evening on the National Cement Company (NCC) located in Wadi Saan area.[106] Explosion at a dairy factory in Hodeida governorate early Wednesday that killed 29 civilian employees and injured 25.[107]
  • On March 31, Relief Web released an escalated conflict situation report that states that, according to the WHO, 361 have been killed and over 1,345 have been injured - most of whom are civilians. The report states that 13 of Yemen's 22 Governorates were affected and highlighted infrastructure effect that detailed the coalitions bombing of an IDP camp that killed 29 and injured 40 as well as indiscriminate shelling that destroyed 2 schools, 2 mosques and several houses. Estimated fuel shortage in the south threatens water access to citizens and in Lahj, electricity and water services have not been functioning for several days.[108]
  • On April 2, Valerie Amos, the top United Nations official for humanitarian assistance, stated that the "Reports from humanitarian partners in different parts of the country indicate that some 519 people have been killed and nearly 1,700 injured in the past two weeks – over 90 of them children. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, some by crossing the sea to Djibouti and Somalia. Electricity, water and essential medicines are in short supply."[109]
  • On April 3, an Egyptian truck driver was killed by Houthi shelling at the Yemeni-Saudi borders.[110]
  • On April 3, an airstrike killed a family of nine in a village near the capital, Sanaa. The family consisted of two men, a woman and six children.[111]
  • Three Red Crescent volunteers were reportedly killed during the first week of April while evacuating the wounded and retrieving the dead in Aden and Ad Dali'.[79]
  • On April 7, a Saudi Airstrike hit a school near a military base in Maitam, killing 3 students and injuring over half a dozen. Exact number of casulaties cannot be confirmed.[112][113]
  • On April 7, an airstrike killed 3 women and 3 children in the village of Beit Rejal west of Sanaa.[114]
  • The UN released a report verifying that as of the start of the Saudi Operation over 293 people have been killed including 74 children.[115]

Responses

Reactions in Yemen

Opposition

Following the call by the leader of the Houthi movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, tens of thousands Yemenis of various socioeconomic backgrounds took to the streets of the capital, Sana'a, to voice their anger at the Saudi intervention.[116][117] In a televised address, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi heaped scorn on Saudi Arabia for their “unjustified attack on Yemenis people.” He stressed that the attacks uncovered the “tyrannical nature” of Saudi regime. “This unjustified aggression shows the hostility and arrogance of this regime. The attacks are reflecting the inhumanity of the aggressor.”[118]

Support

Anti-Houthi groups, especially Sunnis in the south and north of the country, while supporting the intervention do not wish for the return to power of Hadi, since they view him as the man "who ceded control of the capital without a fight six months ago" to the Houthis.[119]

International reactions

Main article: International reactions to the 2015 military intervention in Yemen

The Arab League and United States voiced support for the intervention,[120][121][122] but the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations criticised it.[123][124][125]

Several countries, including China, India, and Pakistan, moved within days to evacuate their citizens from Yemen.[126][127][128] The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy evacuated citizens from 10 different countries (for example, Poland), as well as its own nationals, from Aden by frigate on 2 April.[129] Indian Armed Forces carried out rescue operation codenamed Operation Raahat and evacuated more than 4000 Indian citizens along with 409 foreign nationals belonged to 32 countries.[130][131][132][133]

On 4 April, the ICRC called for a 24-hour ceasefire to deliver aid and supplies after the Saudi-led coalition blocked three aid shipments to Yemen.[134][135]

On 8 April, members of the Pakistani Parliament spoke out against getting involved in Yemen with opposition senator Tahir Hussain Mashadi stating that the "aggressor" was Saudia Arabia and the victims were the Yemenis.[136]

In a joint meeting between Iran and Turkey both nations agreed that a political situation is needed in Yemen, despite being on opposing sides of the conflict.[137]

Other effects

See also: al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
Registration of Indian citizens evacuating from Yemen, March 2015

Gulf Air, the Bahraini flag carrier airline, announced the immediate suspension of service to Sana'a International Airport, amid the worsening crisis.[138] Somali airlines such as Daallo Airlines and Jubba Airways also encountered difficulties, as they were unable to fly over Yemen due to its airspace becoming a restricted area.[139]

Following Hadi's request, the administration of the Egypt-based Nilesat and Saudi-based Arabsat, two satellite communication companies, stopped broadcasting the Yemeni state-run channels, which had fallen under Houthi control. The channels include Al-Yemen, Al-Eman, Saba and Aden TV. On the other hand, armed Houthis closed down the Sana’a offices of four media outlets, including Al-Jazeera, Yemen Shabab, and Suhail channels, as well as Al-Masdar’s newspaper and website. Al-Saeeda channel was also stormed, but has been allowed to remain open on condition it does not publish anything deemed anti-Houthi propaganda. Houthi Political Office member Mohammad Al-Bukhaiti said the channels were closed for being anti-Houthi and supporting the Saudi-led coalition in its bombing campaign.[140]

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula exploited the chaos in Yemen to capture the southeastern port city of Al Mukalla in early April.[141]

Food, water and power crisis

Update by CNN highlights deteriorated situation in Yemen stating that almost 10,160,000 Yemenis are deprived of water, food and electricity. Also added per sources from UNICEF officials at Yemen that within 15 days some 100,000 people across the country have to suffer dislocation, while Oxfam says that more than 10 million Yemenis do not have enough food to eat, in addition to 850,000 half-starved children. It also disclosed that over 13 million civilians have no access to clean water.[142] [143]

ceasefire

On 4 April, the ICRC called for a 24-hour ceasefire to deliver aid and supplies after the Saudi-led coalition blocked three aid shipments to Yemen.[134][135]

Also on 4 April, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Saudi ambassador Abdulrahman bin Ibrahim Al-Rassi and emphasized the need for a ceasefire and peace talks. In its capacity as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has proposed a draft resolution calling for "regular and obligatory humanitarian pauses" in Saudi-led air strikes, to all for both the delivery of aid and the safe evacuation of foreign nationals. That proposal is currently under consideration by the Council; its president for April, Dina Kawar, who is also the representative for Jordan, saying that “council members need time to reflect on the Russian proposal”.[144] However, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United Nations has raised questions over whether humanitarian pauses are the best way of delivering humanitarian assistance.[145][146][147]

On 5 April, Reuters cited that one of the Houthis said: "the Houthis are ready to sit down for peace talks as long as a Saudi-led air campaign is halted and the negotiations are overseen by non-aggressive parties.” [148]

On 7 April, China added its support of a ceasefire in Yemen, following an appeal by the ICRC and Russia for a humanitarian pause.[149]

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