The present situation in the Republic of Yemen is, by any definition of the word, a disaster. Today, the President of Yemen, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, along with his entire cabinet, abruptly resigned, leaving the nation without any form of effective government. This comes after months of fighting between the government of the predominantly Sunni nation, Shiite Houthi rebels, and the Sunni-affiliated al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Houthis have controlled most of Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a, since September, but on Tuesday, they stormed the President’s residence and captured more territory near the capital. This, along with other actions, gave them effective control of Yemen’s already-weak government.
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| The Houthi logo. Arabic text translates to: “God is Great; Death to America; Death to Israel; A Curse Upon the Jews; Victory to Islam.” |
This power vacuum will only bring additional tensions to a highly volatile region that does not need any more conflict. Yemen was previously two countries: the majority-Shiite Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) and the majority-Sunni People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen). Yemen’s current capital, Sana’a, was previously located in North Yemen. The countries merged in 1990 following periods of both war and cooperation between the two states.
The current events are raising fears that southern Yemen might attempt to break away from the north if Houthi rebels control the government. The presence of al-Qaeda (which controls some areas of Yemen as well) only complicates the matter and makes the entire situation more dangerous. Another civil war in the already weak state is sure to bring not only widespread death and destruction, but more opportunities for extremist groups to gain control of territory and resources. This would be horrific for the entire international community.
Hundreds are already dead in Yemen— this is, without a doubt, a disaster. I sincerely hope that the international community will be able to act to restore peace and order, but something tells me that this will get worse before it gets better. I will keep reading up on the conflict, and hopefully, I am proven wrong.
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