The Evil Returns

Note: Battle of Yamamah took place on an ancient district lying to the east of the plateau of Najd (Riyadh)

[…] When the pact had been signed, Muja'a returned to the fort, and soon after the gates of the fort were thrown open. Khalid, accompanied by his mounted warriors and Muja'a, rode into the city, expecting to see hordes of armed warriors, but wherever he looked, he saw nothing but women and old men and children.

He turned in amazement to Muja'a. "Where are the warriors I saw?"

Muja'a pointed at the women. "Those are the warriors you saw", he explained. "When I came into the fort I dressed these women in armour, gave them weapons, and made them parade on the battlements. There are no warriors!"

Furious at being tricked, Khalid swore at Muja'a, "You deceived me, O Muja'a!"

Muja'a merely shrugged his shoulders. "They are my people. I could do nothing else."

But for the pact, Khalid would have torn Muja'a apart with his bare hands. However, the pact had been signed and its terms had to be respected.

The Bani Hanifa, those of them who were in the city, were safe. Soon they had come out of their city roamed freely in the neighbourhood.

A day or two later a message arrived from the Caliph, who was not yet aware of the end of the Battle of Yamamah, instructing Khalid to kill all the apostates of the Bani Hanifa. Khalid wrote back explaining that the Caliph's order could not be implemented because of the pact that he had signed. Abu Bakr agreed to the observance of the terms of the pact.” Here

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Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar رضي الله عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم said; ''There will arise a group of people who will recite the Qur'an but it will not reach beyond their throats. Every time a new generation of them rises, they will then disappear.”

Another Hadith states:

Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar رضي الله عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم said; ''Every time a new generation of them rises, they will then disappear,’ more than twenty times. Until the Anti-Christ (ad-Dajjal) finally appears among them.” [Ibn Majah #174]

Sayyiduna Abu Umamah رضي الله عنه said; “(They are) the worst people killed under the sky, and the best people killed are those whom they kill. They are the dogs of Hell. These people used to be Muslims but they became disbelievers.” I (Sayyiduna Abu Ghalib رضي الله عنه, one of the narrators) asked; 'O Abu Umamah, is this something only you yourself are saying?' He replied; “No, rather I heard it from the messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم.'' [Ibn Majah #176]

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Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said, The Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم said,

Woe to the Arabs from the great evil which is nearly approaching them:

it will be like patches of dark night. A man will wake up as a believer, and be a kafir (unbeliever) by nightfall. People will sell their religion for a small amount of worldly goods. The one who clings to his religion on that day will be as one who is grasping an ember - or thorns. (Ahmad)

Najd

قال الحافظ ابن كثير الدمشقي ـ رحمه الله ـ في كتابه “البداية والنهاية”(١٠/ ٥٨٤-٥٨٥) عن ما سيفعله الخوارج بالأمة إذا قووا

إذْ لو قَووا هؤلاء لأفسدوا الأرض كلها عراقاً وشاماً، ولم يتركوا طفلاً ولا طفلة، ولا رجلاً ولا امرأة، لأن الناس عندهم قد فسدوا فساداً لا يصلحهم إلاّ القتل جملة

Ibn Katheer (d.774AH) stated in “Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah” (10/584-585) regarding what the Khawaarij would do to the Ummah if they ever attained strength: “If they ever gained strength, they would surely corrupt the whole of the earth, Iraq and Syria (Shaam) – they would not leave a baby, male or female, neither a man or a woman, because as far as they are concerned the people have caused corruption, a corruption that cannot be rectified except by mass killing.”

Sa’ud I. bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz [bin Muhammad bin Sa’ud] (d. 1229 AH/1814CE) later on (i.e. 1218AH/1803CE) became the third ruler of the first Saudi state and was a direct student of Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab.)

Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi (b.1117 AH/d.1206 AH) ( b.1703CE /d.1792CE):
"The Majority of People of Al-Hijaz Reject The Resurrection!"

The liar (IAWN) said:

ومعلوم: أن أهل أرضنا، وأرض الحجاز، الذي ينكر البعث منهم أكثر ممن يقر به، والذي يعرف الدين أقل ممن لا يعرفه

“It’s known regarding the people of our land (i.e. Najd) and the land of al-Hijaz, that those among them who reject the resurrection [after death] are more than those who accept it and that those [among them] who know the religion are less than those who do not…”

Source: al-Durar al-Saniyyah 10/43

Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi (d. 1206 AH) Accuses the people of al-Ahsa` of worshipping idols: While addressing someone who is from al-Ahsa`, he tells him that idols are worshipped in his land (which is again a clear-cut lie!):

وقد بلغني أنكم في هذا الأمر قمتم وقعدتم، فإن كنتم تزعمون أن هذا إنكار للمنكر، فيا ليت قيامكم كان في عظائم في بلدكم تضاد أصلي الإسلام: شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمداً رسول الله! منها، وهو أعظمها: عبادة الأصنام عندكم من بشر وحجر
Source: al-Rasa`il al-Shakhsiyyah

His blind followers attacked al-Ahsa` (which by the way is Ottoman land!), slaughtered its people, destroyed their property and stole whatever they could take several times during his lifetime and also after him.

So let’s see what they did in one of these attacks:

Terrorising and mass-slaughtering the people of al-Ahsa`

Uthman ibn Abd Allah ibn Bishr (d.1288 AH/1871 CE)

Ibn Bishr said while speaking about the incidents of the year 1210 AH (1796 CE):

فلما كان قبل طلوع الشمس ثور المسلمون بنادقهم دفعة واحدة , فأرجفت الأرض وأظلمت السماء , وثار عج الدخان في الجو ,وأسقط كثير من الحوامل في الأحساء , ثم نزل سعود في الرقيقة المذكورة , فسلم له , وظهر له جميع أهل الأحساء على إحسانه وإساءته , وأمرهم بالخروج فخرجوا , فأقام في ذلك المنزل مدّة أشهر يقتل من أراد قتله ويجلي من أراد جلاءه ، ويحبس من أراد حبسه ، ويأخذ من الأموال ، ويهدم من المحال ، ويبني ثغوراً ، ويهدم دوراً ، وضرب عليهم ألوفاً من الدراهم وقبضها منهم … وأكثر سعود فيهم القتل … فهذا مقتول في البلد ، وهذا يخرجونه إلى الخيام ، ويضرب عنقه عند خيمة سعود ، حتى أفناهم إلا قليلا ، وحاز سعود من الأموال في تلك الغزوة ما لا يعد ولا يحصى

“Then before the sunrise the Muslims (read: the Wahhabis) shot with their rifles [all at] once, so that the earth trembled, and the heaven became dark, and smoke rose into the sky and many of the pregnant women (!!!) in al-Ahsa` had a miscarriage (due to extreme fear).
Then Sa’ud settled in the [earlier] mentioned al-Raqiqah, so it was given to him. All of the people of al-Ahsa` [then] appeared in front of him in kindness and badness. He commanded them to leave so they left.
He stayed there for [several] months [while] killing whomever he wanted to kill, and exiling whomever he wanted to exile, and imprisoning whomever he wanted to imprison, and taking from the wealth, and destroying places, and building strongholds, and destroying houses and wanting thousands of Dirhams from them and taking it from them…
And Sa’ud killed many of them…
So this one [lies] killed in the land and that one is taken out to the tents and his neck is struck off near the tent of Sa’ud until he annihilated [all of] them except very few.
Sa’ud came into possession of [much] wealth in this attack (Ghazwah) which cannot be counted or numbered.”

Source: ‘Unwan al-Majd 1/216-217

Ibn Bishr (d. 1288 AH/1871 CE) said regarding the events of the year 1212 AH (1798 CE):

وفيها في رمضان سار سعود رحمه المعبود , بالجنود المنصورة والخيل العتاق المشهورة , من جميع نواحي نجد وعربانها وقصد الشمال , وأغار على سوق الشيوخ المعروف عند البصرة , وقتل منهم قتلى كثيرة , وهرب أناس وغرقوا في الشط

“And in [that year] in [the month of] Ramadhan (!) Sa’ud [I. bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz] – may the worshipped One have mercy upon him – set out with the victorious armies and the famous horses, from all of the areas of Najd and its [bedouin] Arabs and intended the North (i.e. ‘Iraq). He attacked the known al-Shuyukh market near al-Basrah and killed many of them. The people fled and drowned in the river.”

Source: ‘Unwan al-Majd 1/240

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Massacre of the Shi‘a of Karbala in April 1801, as described by a Wahhabi historian:

“Saud made for Karbala with his victorious army, famous pedigree horses, and all the settled people and bedouin of Najd […] The Muslims (i.e. the Wahhabis) surrounded Karbala and took it by storm. They killed most of the people in the markets and houses. One cannot count their spoils. They stayed there for just one morning, and left after midday, taking away all the possessions. Nearly two thousand people were killed in Karbala.”

(Uthman ibn Bishr, Unwan al-Majd fi Tarikh Najd [Makka, 1349], 1, 121-122.)

Takfir Upon The People of Makkah

The Original Wahhabis said:

“The second issue: To disbelieve in that which is worshipped instead of Allah, and this means to make Takfir (declare as disbelievers) upon the polytheists (Mushrikin) and the disavowal from them and that which they worship alongside Allah.
So whoever does not make Takfir upon the polytheists of the Turkish state (i.e. the Ottomans!) and the grave-worshippers like the people of Makkah (!!!) and [upon] others from those who worship the righteous (Salihin) and left the Tawhid (monotheism) of Allah for Shirk (polytheism) and exchanged the Sunnah of his Messenger – sallalalhu ‘alayhi wa sallam – with innovations, then he is a disbeliever like them even if dislikes their religion und hates them and loves Islam and its people.
This is so because the one who does not declare the polytheists to be disbelievers has not accepted the Qur`an. The Qur`an declares the polytheists as disbelievers, and commands to declare them as such and to show enmity towards them and to fight them.”

الأمر الثاني: الكفر بما يعبد من دون الله، والمراد بذلك تكفير المشركين، والبراءة منهم، ومما يعبدون مع الله. فمن لم يكفر المشركين من الدولة التركية، وعباد القبور، كأهل مكة وغيرهم، ممن عبد الصالحين، وعدل عن توحيد الله إلى الشرك، وبدّل سنّة رسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم بالبدع، فهو كافر مثلهم، وإن كان يكره دينهم، ويبغضهم، ويحب الإسلام والمسلمين ; فإن الذي لا يكفر المشركين، غير مصدق بالقرآن، فإن القرآن قد كفر المشركين، وأمر بتكفيرهم، وعداوتهم وقتالهم

Source: al-Durar al-Saniyya 9/291

WAHHABIS IN MADINA

The tenth Ottoman Sultan (d.1566 CE) (ra) had restored the walls around the blessed city of Medina; the city had not suffered any assault of bandits for 274 years owing to its strong walls, and Muslims had lived in comfort and peace in the city till early 1222 A.H (1807 CE), when they fell prey to the hands of Sa'ud.

Sa'ud sent the looters he raised from the villages to Medina after capturing al-Makkat al-Mukarrama and the villages around it. He appointed two brothers named Baday and Nadi as commanders of the looters. They plundered the Muslim villages on their way and killed many Muslims. Most of the villages around Medina were set to fire and demolished. Here

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“Beyond Our Najd”

The Oath of Allegiance

In 1157 AH (1744 CE) Mu-hammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab made bay'ah (oath of allegiance) with Mu-hammed ibn Saud where it was agreed that political power would remain in the hands of the clan of Aal-Saud (House of Saud, the Royal family) and the religious leadership would remain in the hands of the clan of Aal-ish-Shaykh (M. ibn Abd al-Wahhab Najdi and his descendants) and this wahhabi power division has remained ever since. This event (the oath) is written in the book: “Unwan al-Majd fe Tarikh an-Najd “[Vol. 1, page 41.] The Najdi manuscript: Here

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Muhammad Finati, an Italian revert to Islam who served with the Caliphal army which defeated the Wahhabis, wrote a long first-hand account of the extreme barbarism of the Najdi hordes:

“ Such among us as fell alive into the hands of these cruel fanatics, were wantonly mutilated by the cutting off of their arms and legs, and left to perish in that state, some of whom, in the course of our retreat, I myself actually saw, who had no greater favour to ask than that we would put them to death.”

(G. Finati, Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Giovanni Finati [London, 1830], I, 287.)

In 1924, the Wahhabi army entered the city of Ta’if, plundering it for three days. The chief qadi and the ulema were dragged from their houses and slaughtered, while several hundred other civilians lost their lives. (Ibn Hizlul, Tarikh Muluk Al Sa‘ud [Riyadh, 1961], pp.151-3.)

After giving the the Sunni population of the Hijaz this terrorist lesson, ‘Ibn Saud occupied Mecca with Britain’s tacit blessing’ (Alexei Vassiliev, A History of Saudi Arabia [London, 1998], p.264)

Israel plans for railway connecting it with Saudi Arabia

January 16, 2018 at 11:22 am

The Israeli government has begun preparing plans to build a railway linking Israel with Saudi Arabia to transfer goods and people, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported yesterday.

Reporting the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the London-based website said that the 15 million shekels ($4.5 million) cost of the plans for this project was included in the 2019 budget, which was approved three days earlier.

The initial plan for the project is to build a railway station in the city of Bisan with a railway network which travels through Jordan to Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Currently, Yedioth Ahronoth said, Israel is transporting goods arriving in Haifa Port and heading to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States through Jordan, noting that the war in Syria led these countries to use Israeli ports instead of those in Syria.

Swiss Newspaper reveals: Secret military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel

The paper reported that the Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz called this railway the “Peace Line”, adding that Israel would open a new commercial crossing to deal with goods exported by the Gulf States and Iraq through Israeli ports.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the Israeli Railway Commission has already formed a team of experts to lay down plans for this project, which, it said, would improve Israel’s international status as the railway will connect Europe with the Middle East. Here

Saudi General expresses his support for Israel

عبدالله ابن فولان

Published on Oct 17, 2015

Why were Saudi Arabia and Israel holding secret talks?

Al Jazeera English

Published on Oct 17, 2015 Here

^{Great Friend}

Timeline:

Rise and Spread of IS

Wahhabiyyah-Daesh-Khawarij

Here

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It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the
Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said:

One who defected from obedience (to the Amir) and separated from the main body of the Muslims - if he died in that state-would die the death of one belonging to the days of Jahiliyya (i.e. would not die as a Muslim).

One who fights under the banner of a people who are blind (to the cause for which they are fighting, i.e. do not know whether their cause is just or otherwise), who gets flared up with family pride, calls (people) to fight for their family honour, and supports his kith and kin (i.e. fights not for the cause of Allah but for the sake of this family or tribe) - if he is killed (in this fight), he dies as one belonging to the days of Jahiliyya.

Whoso attacks my Ummah (indiscriminately) killing the righteous and the wicked of them, sparing not (even) those staunch in faith and fulfilling not his promise made with those who have been given a pledge of security - he has nothing to do with me and I have nothing to do with him.

حَدَّثَنَا شَيْبَانُ بْنُ فَرُّوخَ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ حَازِمٍ - حَدَّثَنَا غَيْلاَنُ بْنُ، جَرِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي قَيْسِ بْنِ رِيَاحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ قَالَ ‏ "‏ مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنَ الطَّاعَةِ وَفَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ فَمَاتَ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً وَمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عُمِّيَّةٍ يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبَةٍ أَوْ يَنْصُرُ عَصَبَةً فَقُتِلَ فَقِتْلَةٌ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ وَمَنْ خَرَجَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي يَضْرِبُ بَرَّهَا وَفَاجِرَهَا وَلاَ يَتَحَاشَ مِنْ مُؤْمِنِهَا وَلاَ يَفِي لِذِي عَهْدٍ عَهْدَهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَلَسْتُ مِنْهُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

[Sahih Muslim]

It was narrated that Abu Hurairah (RA) said:

"The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم) said:

'Whoever parts from obedience, and splits away from the Jama'ah and dies, then he has died a death of Jahiliyyah.

Whoever rebels against my Ummah, killing good and evil people alike, and does not try to avoid killing the believers, and does not pay attention to those who are under a covenant, then he is not of me.

Whoever fights for a cause that is not clear, advocating tribalism, getting angry for the sake of tribalism, and he is killed, then he has died a death of Jahiliyyah.'"

أَخْبَرَنَا بِشْرُ بْنُ هِلاَلٍ الصَّوَّافُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَارِثِ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَيُّوبُ، عَنْ غَيْلاَنَ بْنِ جَرِيرٍ، عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ رَبَاحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنَ الطَّاعَةِ وَفَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ فَمَاتَ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً وَمَنْ خَرَجَ عَلَى أُمَّتِي يَضْرِبُ بَرَّهَا وَفَاجِرَهَا لاَ يَتَحَاشَى مِنْ مُؤْمِنِهَا وَلاَ يَفِي لِذِي عَهْدِهَا فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَمَنْ قَاتَلَ تَحْتَ رَايَةٍ عُمِّيَّةٍ يَدْعُو إِلَى عَصَبِيَّةٍ أَوْ يَغْضَبُ لِعَصَبِيَّةٍ فَقُتِلَ فَقِتْلَةٌ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)

Sunan an-Nasa'i 4114

In-book reference : Book 37, Hadith 149

English translation: Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4119

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(Edited by ADHM)

YEMEN: THE FORGOTTEN WAR

Here

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Written by DECLAN WALSH

Photographs and video by

TYLER HICKS OCT. 20, 2018

Here

19 October 2018

In Yemen, a three-year conflict has produced what United Nations officials call “the worst man-made humanitarian crisis of our time.” Markets, hospitals and other civilian sites have been repeatedly attacked. Disease and hunger rival bombs and gunfire as the biggest dangers to ordinary people. Yemen was already the poorest country in the Middle East; the war has it headed toward famine. A UN-mandated investigation concluded that all the major parties to the conflict, especially a Saudi Arabian-led coalition and the Yemeni government it backs, have shown a disregard for civilian life possibly amounting to war crimes.

1. Who’s fighting whom?
Broadly, on one side are Houthi rebels, members of a Shiite Muslim tribe from the mountains of northern Yemen, who took control of the capital, Sana’a, and other cities in 2015. They complain of marginalization of their community and are supported by Shiite-majority Iran. On the other side stand forces of the internationally recognized Yemeni government and allied militias backed by Saudi Arabia and its coalition of mainly Sunni Muslim nations.

2. Why is Saudi Arabia involved?
Its leaders say they feared that Houthi control of Yemen would give Iran a foothold in the Arabian peninsula that would threaten Saudi interests. Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaged in a larger battle for dominance in the Arab world.

3. How has the fighting affected civilians?
The recorded civilian death toll from fighting so far is about 7,000, although UN officials believe the actual number is substantially higher. Most casualties have been the result of coalition air strikes, according to the Aug. 28 report of investigators commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council. The panel reviewed coalition air strikes that hit residential areas in 60 cases; marketplaces in 11 cases; civilian boats in 11 cases; and medical, educational, cultural or religious sites in 32 cases. It said such strikes may amount to war crimes. The investigators said they gathered reports of shelling into civilian areas by Houthi forces that required further investigation.

4. What’s the famine risk?
UN officials say that 8 million of the country’s 28 million people need emergency food assistance to survive. Humanitarian workers have already discovered parts of the country where famine-like conditions exist and people are eating leaves to survive.

5. Why is there so much hunger?
Yemen relies heavily on imports for its food supplies. The country grows only about 5 percent of the wheat it consumes. That’s because freshwater for crops is scarce, and farmers increasingly have turned to cultivating the more profitable qat, a narcotic leaf that 90 percent of Yemeni men chew on a daily basis. The Saudi-led coalition has disrupted food and other supplies coming into Yemen by imposing a naval blockade on ports in the Houthi-controlled north, notably Hodeidah and Salif, which normally handle about 80 percent of imports. Coalition ships have held up vessels bound for the ports for significant periods or diverted them to other countries. At timesthey’ve stopped all traffic.

6. So food is in short supply?
To some extent. Commercial imports fell 30 percent from May to August. But elevated prices are as much of a challenge. The Houthis contribute to the problem by extracting payments on goods that are trucked through the areas they control. A sharp depreciation of the national currency has pushed prices higher still. Civil servants, who with their families make up about a quarter of the population, have received no pay or intermittent pay since August 2016. The 2.3 million people in Yemen who’ve been driven from their homes by the war are especially cash-strapped. Many have had to sell their possessions to meet their most basic needs.

7. Why is disease such a threat?
Yemen was hit by the worst epidemic of cholera ever recorded starting in April 2017. More than 1.2 million people have been sickened and about 2,500 have died. A third wave of infections began to accelerate this summer. Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease, is bred by poor sanitation and a lack of clean water, conditions created when wastewater treatment plants reduced operations because of fuel shortages caused by import disruptions. The infection is normally easily treated by replacing lost fluids, but that requires clean water.

8. Is the blockade legal?
The UNHCR’s investigation concluded that there are “reasonable grounds” to conclude that it violates the proportionality rule of international humanitarian law. Under that convention, a blockade is illegitimate if its impact on civilians is disproportionate to its military benefits. The investigators reported that searches of ships by the blockading forces had turned up no weapons. For these reasons, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch earlier called on the UN Security Council to impose travel bans and asset freezes on coalition leaders, including the Saudi crown prince and defense minister, Mohammed bin Salman.

9. How does the coalition justify the blockade?
The coalition partners say they aim to prevent the rebels from receiving arms shipments from Iran. After the rebels in November 2017 first shot a missile targeted at the Saudi capital Riyadh, the coalition justified temporarily reinstating a total blockage of Houthi-controlled ports by arguing that missile components were entering Yemen from outside the country. Saudi officials have also expressed concern that allowing ships to call on Houthi-controlled ports gives the rebels a source of fees that help fund their war efforts.

10. How’s the rest of the world reacted?
Early this year, Germany suspended arms exports to Saudi Arabia and its fighting partner the United Arab Emirates. Norway has ceased such sales to the U.A.E. The U.S. and U.K. support the coalition with weapons sales and logistical help. The UN has partnered with humanitarian groups to provide assistance to Yemen’s neediest people. Here
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Recent Developments

The Saudi-led coalition has continued to escalate its campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, resulting in heavy civilian casualties. In June 2018, the coalition launched a major offensive to retake the coastal region of Hodeida, further worsening the humanitarian crisis. The United Nations, which appointed a new special envoy for Yemen earlier this year, attempted to broker a cease-fire, but that effort stalled in July and the assault resumed.

The Houthis have responded to Saudi airstrikes with missile attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure and territory, including oil tankers and facilities and international airports. Further complicating the civil war, secessionist groups in Yemen’s south, supported by the United Arab Emirates, have increasingly clashed with the UN-recognized government forces based in Aden.

Background

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when Houthi insurgents—Shiite rebels with links to Iran and a history of rising up against the Sunni government—took control of Yemen’s capital and largest city, Sana’a, demanding lower fuel prices and a new government. Following failed negotiations, the rebels seized the presidential palace in January 2015, leading President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to resign. Beginning in March 2015, a coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia launched a campaign of economic isolation and air strikes against the Houthi insurgents, with U.S. logistical and intelligence support.

Hadi rescinded his resignation and returned to Aden in September 2015, and fighting has continued since. A UN effort to broker peace talks between allied Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized Yemeni government stalled in the summer of 2016. As of December 2017, Hadi has reportedly been residing in exile in Saudi Arabia.

In July 2016, the Houthis and the government of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted in 2011 after nearly thirty years in power, announced the formation of a “political council” to govern Sana’a and much of northern Yemen. However, in December 2017, Saleh broke with the Houthis and called for his followers to take up arms against them. Saleh was killed and his forces defeated within two days.

The intervention of regional powers in Yemen’s conflict, including Iran and Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia, threatens to draw the country into the broader Sunni-Shia divide. Numerous Iranian weapons shipments to Houthi rebels have been intercepted in the Gulf of Aden by a Saudi naval blockade in place since April 2015. In response, Iran has dispatched its own naval convoy, which further risks military escalation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the conflict continues to take a heavy toll on Yemeni civilians, making Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The UN estimates that the civilian casualty toll has exceeded 15,000 killed or injured. Twenty-two million Yemenis remain in need of assistance, eight million are at risk of famine, and a cholera outbreak has affected over one million people. All sides of the conflict are reported to have violated human rights and international humanitarian law.

Separate from the ongoing civil war, the United States continues counterterrorism operations in Yemen, relying mainly on airstrikes to target al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and militants associated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State. In 2016, the United States conducted an estimated 35 strikes in Yemen; in 2017, it conducted about 130. In April 2016, the United States deployed a small team of forces to advise and assist Saudi-led troops to retake territory from AQAP. In January 2017, a U.S. Special Operations Forces raid in central Yemen killed one U.S. service member, several suspected AQAP-affiliated fighters, and an unknown number of Yemeni civilians.

Concerns

The United States is deeply invested in combating terrorism and violent extremism in Yemen, having collaborated with the Yemeni government on counterterrorism since the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. Since 2002, the United States has carried out over two hundred strikes in Yemen. While Houthi rebels do not pose a direct threat to the United States, their attacks on Saudi Arabian infrastructure and territory threaten an important U.S. partner.

A Visual Exploration of the Conflict Here