The Saudi-led coalition's involvement in late March put Yemen's conflict further into the limelight — but the country has faced years of turmoil before that. Despite the media coverage, there are still some important aspects to the war that are largely overlooked.
It's not really about religion.
The conflict in Yemen is often simplified to be a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, or Sunni and Shia. What people don't know is that Houthi "Shiites" believe in Zaydism, a school that closely resembles Sunnis. It's very different from Iran's Shiite branch of Twelver, and part of the conflict is among Shiites themselves.
There are more ground troops than you might think.
More countries have joined the war to help Saudi Arabia and Yemen's government with its fight against the Houthis. Reports say Colombia has recently joined the fight and will be sending up to 800 troops. Sudan is another large contributor with, reports claim, up to 10,000 soldiers. That's in addition to the Gulf troops — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE — who have been heavily involved in the fight.
Civilians are overwhelmingly the targets.
We've all heard that civilians are most hardhit by the conflict in Yemen and the Saudi-led airstrikes, but let's take a look at the casualties. According to the UN, civilians made up 93 percent of those who died from air raids; 94 percent of those who died from ground-launched explosive devices; and 97 percent of those who died from improvised explosive devices.
Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh wasn't always a Houthi supporter.
Saleh's alliances have been anything but consistent. Saudi Arabia once helped the former ruler take over all of Yemen in the war between North and South. He waged an anti-insurgent campaign against the Houthis during his presidency. It wasn't until Saleh was overthrown by Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and the rebels became a driving force against him, that he jumped on board.
By Hayat Norimine
