A new UN-brokered ceasefire is due to take effect at midnight Wednesday in Yemen, where a 19-month conflict fuelled by rivalries between Saudi Arabia and Iran has killed almost 6,900 people.
Here are key dates:
- Saudi intervention -
- March 26, 2015: Saudi Arabia begins Operation Decisive Storm with air strikes on the rebels after forging a coalition of nine countries to shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh after Iran-backed Shiite Huthi revels overran the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country.
A few months later coalition special units are deployed in Yemen.
- April 17, 2015: UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, two days after world powers impose an arms embargo on the rebels and demand they relinquish territory seized in a sweeping offensive.
- Aden 'liberated' -
On July 17, 2015 the government says it has "liberated" the southern province of Aden, its first major victory.
Loyalist troops backed by Saudi air strikes struggle to maintain control over southern provinces owing to an influx of fighters from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
- Tough counterattacks -
In February 2016, Saudi Arabia says that Yemeni government forces have recaptured "more than three-quarters" of the country.
Coalition casualties begin to mount, and include 67 soldiers killed in a rebel rocket attack on September 4, 2015.
- Fruitless peace talks -
Five attempts by the United Nations to clinch a truce in Yemen fail and a diplomatic rupture between Riyadh and Tehran in January 2016 throws up a fresh hurdle.
The latest effort for a 72-hour truce due to start from 2059 GMT on Wednesday was announced by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
A truce declared in conjunction with the start of peace talks in Kuwait was hardly observed and eventually collapse as the negotiations ended in August with no breakthrough.
Since then fighting has intensified, and hours before the start of the new truce heavy clashes rocked Yemen.
- Jihadist threat -
Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict in yemen to expand their presence in the Arabian Peninsula country, particularly in the south and southeast.
In mid-August, loyalist forces entered Zinjibar, the capital of the southern Abyan province, as part of an offensive to recapture the province from Al-Qaeda jihadists.
The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against the Huthis has turned its sights on the jihadists, and the United States has pressed its drone war against them.
- Humanitarian toll -
Civilians have paid the highest price in the impoverished country.
Almost 6,900 have been killed -- more than half of them civilians -- while another three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.
An October 8 coalition air strike killed more than 140 people and wounded at least 525 at a funeral in the Huthi-held capital Sanaa, according to UN estimates.
The coalition, after denying any responsibility, admitted that one of its planes "wrongly targeted" the funereal based on "incorrect information".
Earlier this month the World Health Organization reported an outbreak of cholera in Yemen and warned that the scarcity of drinkable water has worsened the hygiene situation in the country.
Nearly three million people in Yemen are in need of immediate food supplies, while 1.5 million children suffer malnutrition, including 370,000 enduring very severe malnutrition that weakens their immune system, according to UNICEF.
A new UN-brokered ceasefire is due to take effect at midnight Wednesday in Yemen, where a 19-month conflict fuelled by rivalries between Saudi Arabia and Iran has killed almost 6,900 people.
Here are key dates:
– Saudi intervention –
– March 26, 2015: Saudi Arabia begins Operation Decisive Storm with air strikes on the rebels after forging a coalition of nine countries to shore up the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh after Iran-backed Shiite Huthi revels overran the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country.
A few months later coalition special units are deployed in Yemen.
– April 17, 2015: UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, two days after world powers impose an arms embargo on the rebels and demand they relinquish territory seized in a sweeping offensive.
– Aden ‘liberated’ –
On July 17, 2015 the government says it has “liberated” the southern province of Aden, its first major victory.
Loyalist troops backed by Saudi air strikes struggle to maintain control over southern provinces owing to an influx of fighters from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
– Tough counterattacks –
In February 2016, Saudi Arabia says that Yemeni government forces have recaptured “more than three-quarters” of the country.
Coalition casualties begin to mount, and include 67 soldiers killed in a rebel rocket attack on September 4, 2015.
– Fruitless peace talks –
Five attempts by the United Nations to clinch a truce in Yemen fail and a diplomatic rupture between Riyadh and Tehran in January 2016 throws up a fresh hurdle.
The latest effort for a 72-hour truce due to start from 2059 GMT on Wednesday was announced by UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
A truce declared in conjunction with the start of peace talks in Kuwait was hardly observed and eventually collapse as the negotiations ended in August with no breakthrough.
Since then fighting has intensified, and hours before the start of the new truce heavy clashes rocked Yemen.
– Jihadist threat –
Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have exploited the power vacuum created by the conflict in yemen to expand their presence in the Arabian Peninsula country, particularly in the south and southeast.
In mid-August, loyalist forces entered Zinjibar, the capital of the southern Abyan province, as part of an offensive to recapture the province from Al-Qaeda jihadists.
The Arab coalition which backs the Yemeni government against the Huthis has turned its sights on the jihadists, and the United States has pressed its drone war against them.
– Humanitarian toll –
Civilians have paid the highest price in the impoverished country.
Almost 6,900 have been killed — more than half of them civilians — while another three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.
An October 8 coalition air strike killed more than 140 people and wounded at least 525 at a funeral in the Huthi-held capital Sanaa, according to UN estimates.
The coalition, after denying any responsibility, admitted that one of its planes “wrongly targeted” the funereal based on “incorrect information”.
Earlier this month the World Health Organization reported an outbreak of cholera in Yemen and warned that the scarcity of drinkable water has worsened the hygiene situation in the country.
Nearly three million people in Yemen are in need of immediate food supplies, while 1.5 million children suffer malnutrition, including 370,000 enduring very severe malnutrition that weakens their immune system, according to UNICEF.
