OMAN
SAUDI ARABIA
Sparsely
populated
Most of Yemen’s 24 million people live in the west of the country.
YEMEN
Sana
200 miles
Taiz
Aden
Gulf of Aden
Djibouti
somalia
200 miles
SparSely
populated
YEMEN
Sana
Taiz
Most of Yemen’s 24 million people live in the west of the country.
Aden
The Saudi-led airstrikes crippled Yemen’s Houthi-controlled air force, but have so far failed to halt Houthi expansion on the ground. Military operations have severely limited humanitarian assistance in Yemen, a nation already burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees. “The country seems to be on the verge of total collapse,” said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Confirmed Saudi-led airstrikes, March 26 to April 1
Houthi presence
Houthi expansion after the strikes
Airstrikes on March 30 killed at least 31 and wounded dozens at Al Mazraq camp.
Haradh
Al Qaeda attacked government buildings and freed hundreds of prisoners on April 2.
Sana
YEMEN
An explosion at a dairy factory killed at least 33 workers on April 1.
Hodeida
Al Mukalla
Taiz
Doctors Without Borders reported receiving 111 patients on March 26 alone.
Aden
50 miles
Airstrikes on March 30 killed at least 31 and wounded dozens at Al Mazraq camp.
Haradh
Sana
YEMEN
Hodeida
Al Mukalla
Taiz
Al Qaeda attacked government buildings and freed hundreds of prisoners on April 2.
Aden
An explosion at a dairy factory killed at least 33 workers on April 1.
Doctors Without Borders reported receiving 111 patients on March 26 alone.
50 miles
Haradh
Sana
Hodeida
Aden
Doctors Without Borders reported receiving 111 patients on March 26 alone.
50 miles
Originally from Saada Province, the Houthis practice a variant of Shiite Islam and receive support from Iran. In January, the Houthis overran the capital, Sana, forcing president Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi to resign. Since then, they have continued pushing south, and this week began pressing on the port of Aden, where Mr. Hadi and forces still allied with him had taken refuge.
Houthis control or have influence
Houthis are able to operate
Jan. 2014
July 2014
Sept. 2014
March 2015
Saada
Province
Sana
Sana
Sana
Sana
Taiz
Taiz
Taiz
Taiz
Aden
Aden
Aden
Aden
Jan. 2014
July 2014
Sana
Sana
Taiz
Taiz
Aden
Aden
Sept. 2014
March 2015
Sana
Sana
Taiz
Taiz
Aden
Aden
Yemen is home to one of Al Qaeda’s most active branches, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Since 2009, the United States has carried out at least 100 airstrikes in Yemen, according to an analysis by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has done a detailed analysis of strikes there.
Al Qaeda is not the only terrorist group operating in Yemen. Last week, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for bombings at two Shiite mosques in Sana that killed more than 135 people. The presence of ISIS could drive Yemen into a “full-blown sectarian conflict,” said Katherine Zimmerman, an analyst for the American Enterprise Institute. “What ISIS wants to do is to recreate in Yemen the sectarian war its predecessor, Al Qaeda in Iraq, stoked there.”
Airstrikes by province 2009-2015
Confirmed U.S. involvement
Possible U.S. involvement or was launched by other countries
Areas where Al Qaeda is able to operate
Sparsely populated
SAADA
YEMEN
JAWF
Hadramawt
MARIB
Sana
SHABWA
DHAMAR
100 miles
BAYDA
ABYAN
Taiz
LAHJ
Aden
YEMEN
SAADA
JAWF
Hadramawt
MARIB
Sana
SHABWA
DHAMAR
BAYDA
ABYAN
Taiz
LAHJ
Aden
100 miles
South Yemen was a separate country until 1990. The northeast, an area historically called Yemen, is mostly Shiite. The southeast, known as Hadramawat, is home to a mostly Sunni population. “Yemen and the Hadramawat have seldom been part of the same political entity in the past and have maintained separate identities for a long time,” said Michael Izady, a historian and cultural geographer who has mapped ethnicity and religion for Columbia University.
SAUDI ARABIA
OMAN
Current border
Unofficial border
Red Sea
NORTH YEMEN
HADRAMAWAT
REGION
Sana
SOUTH YEMEN
ERITREA
Taiz
150 Miles
Gulf of Aden
Aden
SAUDI ARABIA
Current
border
Unofficial
border
NORTH YEMEN
HADRAMAWAT
REGION
Sana
Red
Sea
SOUTH YEMEN
Taiz
100 Miles
Aden
Gulf of Aden