The United Nations has reported that 10,000 people have been killed in the ongoing civil war in the Arab state of Yemen. The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen and the United Nations humanitarian coordinator both also estimate that 40,000 people have been injured in the conflict.
Ongoing civil war in Yemen has grown more and more violent
The country is located on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders the countries of Saudi Arabia and Oman. The country is an Arab state, and thus its population is majority-Islamic. However, within the country of Yemen there are various divisions of Islamic followers.
In the northern part of Yemen, the population is mainly Shia, which is one of the two major forms of Islamic worship, whereas the southern part of the country is largely Sunni, the other major sect within Islam.
Although the country was initially split between North and South, it unified as the one country of Yemen in 1990 under President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The regime of President Saleh was rife with corruption, and in 2011, mass protests began in Yemen after President Saleh attempted to alter the state's constitution to make him president permanently. President Saleh gave up the role of leader to his Vice President Hadi in 2012, which led to the rebellion of the Houthis. The Houthis worship Shia Islam and are from the North of the country, and in the ensuing violence the Houthis have seized the capital city of Yemen.
In response to this, the country of Saudi Arabia, which is Sunni, has begun bombing and blockading the country to remove the Houthis from power. Violence has escalated, and famine-like conditions have set in. It is estimated that eighty-percent of the country's population is in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
American response to war in Yemen
The United States, under former President Barack Obama, has assisted the country of Saudi Arabia in bombing and blockading Yemen. Many have accused the Obama administration of being complicit in the suffering of the innocent people of Yemen. However, the events of the civil war in Yemen were largely overshadowed in the media in 2016 by the controversial American presidential election and the ongoing conflict in Syria.
The American response to the situation in Yemen may change, as now Republican Donald trump has been inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. Trump campaigned on a promise of non-interventionism in foreign affairs, meaning the American role in Yemen may soon be drastically altered.
