INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Houthi rebels in Yemen say they have captured a large number of Saudi troops after a major attack near the border between the two
countries.A Houthi spokesman told the BBC that three Saudi brigades had surrendered near the Saudi town of Najran.He said thousands of
soldiers had been captured and many others killed
Saudi officials have not confirmed the claim.The operation was the largest of its kind since the conflict began, the spokesman said.Colonel
Yahiya Sarea said Saudi forces had suffered "huge losses in life and machinery".All those captured would be paraded on the Houthi-run Al
Masirah TV network on Sunday, he added.Houthis say they launched a drone and missile attack on Saudi oil facilities on 14 September which
affected global markets.But the Saudis - backed by the US, UK, France and Germany - have all publicly blamed Iran for the strike,
allegations Tehran denies.What's the background?Yemen has been at war since 2015, when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and his cabinet were
forced to flee the capital Sanaa by the Houthis - which hold much of the north of the country.Saudi Arabia backs President Hadi, and has led
a coalition of regional countries in air strikes against the Iran-aligned rebels.The coalition launches air strikes almost every day, while
the Houthis often fire missiles into Saudi Arabia.The civil war has triggered the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with 80% of the
population - more than 24 million people - requiring humanitarian assistance or protection, including 10 million who rely on food aid to
survive.More than 70,000 people are believed to have died since 2016 as a result of the conflict, according to UN estimates.Yemen conflict A
man carries a wounded child after a Saudi-led airstrike that killed eight members of her family in Sanaa, August 2017For a little more than
three years, Yemen has been locked in a seemingly intractable civil war that has killed nearly 10,000 people and pushed millions to the
brink of starvation.The conflict has its roots in the Arab Spring of 2011, when an uprising forced the country's long-time authoritarian
president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.The political transition was supposed to bring
stability to Yemen, one of the Middle East's poorest nations, but President Hadi struggled to deal with various problems including militant
attacks, corruption, food insecurity, and continuing loyalty of many military officers to Saleh.Fighting began in 2014 when the Houthi Shia
Muslim rebel movement took advantage of the new president's weakness and seized control of northern Saada province and neighbouring areas
The Houthis went on to take the capital Sanaa, forcing Mr Hadi into exile abroad.The conflict escalated dramatically in March 2015, when
Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly Sunni Arab states - backed by the US, UK, and France - began air strikes against the Houthis, with the
declared aim of restoring Mr Hadi's government.The Saudi-led coalition feared that continued success of the Houthis would give their rival
regional power and Shia-majority state, Iran, a foothold in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's southern neighbour
Saudi Arabia says Iran is backing the Houthis with weapons and logistical support - a charge Iran denies.Both sides have since been beset by
The Houthis broke with Saleh and he was killed by Houthi fighters in December 2017
On the anti-Houthi side, militias include separatists seeking independence for south Yemen and factions who oppose the idea.The stalemate
has produced an unrelenting humanitarian crisis, with at least 8.4 million people at risk of starvation and 22.2 million people - 75% of the
population - in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN
Severe acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of almost 400,000 children under the age of five.Yemen's health system has all but
collapsed, while the world's largest cholera outbreak has killed thousands.In June 2018, Saudi-backed government forces began an assault on
the key rebel-held port of Hudaydah, the entry point for the vast majority of aid going into Yemen and a lifeline for the starving
Aid agencies warned the offensive could make Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe much worse.Yemen crisis: Why is there a war?More than 60% of
civilian deaths have been the result of Saudi-led air strikes, the UN saysYemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has been
devastated by a civil war
Here we explain what is fuelling the fighting, and who is involved.Houthi rebel fighters entered Sanaa in September 2014 and took full
control in January 2015The conflict has its roots in the failure of a political transition supposed to bring stability to Yemen following an
Arab Spring uprising that forced its longtime authoritarian president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh
Mansour Hadi, in 2011.As president, Mr Hadi struggled to deal with a variety of problems, including attacks by jihadists, a separatist
movement in the south, the continuing loyalty of security personnel to Saleh, as well as corruption, unemployment and food insecurity.Ali
Abdullah Saleh (R) was forced to hand over power to Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi (L)The Houthi movement, which champions Yemen's Zaidi Shia Muslim
minority and fought a series of rebellions against Saleh during the previous decade, took advantage of the new president's weakness by
taking control of their northern heartland of Saada province and neighbouring areas.Disillusioned with the transition, many ordinary Yemenis
- including Sunnis - supported the Houthis and in late 2014 and early 2015, the rebels took over Sanaa.A Saudi-led multinational coalition
intervened in the conflict in Yemen in March 2015 The Houthis and security forces loyal to Saleh - who is thought to have backed his
erstwhile enemies in a bid to regain power - then attempted to take control of the entire country, forcing Mr Hadi to flee abroad in March
2015.Alarmed by the rise of a group they believed to be backed militarily by regional Shia power Iran, Saudi Arabia and eight other mostly
Sunni Arab states began an air campaign aimed at restoring Mr Hadi's government.The coalition received logistical and intelligence support
from the US, UK and France.What's happened since then?At the start of the war Saudi officials forecast that the war would last only a few
But four years of military stalemate have followed.Coalition ground troops landed in the southern port city of Aden in August 2015 and
helped drive the Houthis and their allies out of much of the south over the next few months
Mr Hadi's government has established a temporary home in Aden, but it struggles to provide basic services and security and the president
remains in exile.The Houthis meanwhile have not been dislodged from Sanaa, and have been able to maintain a siege of the third city of Taiz
and to fire ballistic missiles across the border with Saudi Arabia.Militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the local
affiliate of the rival Islamic State group (IS) have taken advantage of the chaos by seizing territory in the south and carrying out deadly
attacks, notably in Aden.The launch of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh in November 2017 prompted the Saudi-led coalition to tighten its
blockade of Yemen.The coalition said it wanted to halt the smuggling of weapons to the rebels by Iran - an accusation Tehran denied - but
the restrictions led to substantial increases in the prices of food and fuel, helping to push more people into food insecurity.In June 2018,
the coalition attempted to break the deadlock on the battlefield by launching a major offensive on the rebel-held Red Sea city of Hudaydah,
whose port is the principal lifeline for almost two thirds of Yemen's population.Media captionWhere the fighting in Yemen has stopped but
not the sufferingUN officials warned that the toll in lives might be catastrophic if the port was damaged or blocked
But months passed before the warring parties could be persuaded to attend talks in Sweden to avert an all-out battle in Hudaydah.In
December, government and Houthi representatives agreed to a ceasefire in Hudaydah city and port and promised to redeploy their forces by
But both sides have yet to start withdrawing, raising fears that the deal will collapse.What's been the human cost?In short, Yemen is
experiencing the world's worst man-made humanitarian disaster.Media captionThe UN says Yemen is on the brink of the world's worst famine in
100 years if the war continues The UN says at least 7,025 civilians have been killed and 11,140 injured in the fighting since March 2015,
with 65% of the deaths attributed to Saudi-led coalition air strikes.An international group tracking the civil war believes the death toll
The US-based Armed Conflict Location - Event Data Project estimates that more than 67,650 civilians and combatants have been killed since
January 2016, based on news reports of each incident of violence.Thousands more civilians have died from preventable causes, including
malnutrition, disease and poor health.About 80% of the population - 24 million people - need humanitarian assistance and protection.About 20
million need help securing food, including almost 10 million who the UN says are just a step away from famine
Almost 240,000 of those people are facing "catastrophic levels of hunger".More than 3 million people - including 2 million children - are
acutely malnourished, which makes them more vulnerable to disease
The charity Save the Children estimates that 85,000 children with severe acute malnutrition may have died between April 2015 and October
2018.With only half of the country's 3,500 medical facilities fully functioning, almost 20 million people lack access to adequate healthcare
And almost 18 million do not have enough clean water or access to adequate sanitation.Consequently, medics have struggled to deal with the
largest cholera outbreak ever recorded, which has resulted in more than 1.49 million suspected cases and 2,960 related deaths since April
2017.The war has also displaced more than 3.3 million from their homes, including 685,000 who have fled fighting along the west coast since
June 2018.Ali Abdullah Saleh died amid fierce clashes between his supporters and the Houthis in SanaaThe alliance between the Houthis and Mr
Saleh collapsed in November 2017 following clashes over control of Sanaa's biggest mosque that left dozens of people dead.Houthi fighters
launched an operation to take full control of the capital and on 4 December 2017 announced that Mr Saleh had been killed.Separatists seeking
independence for south Yemen, which was a separate country before unification with the north in 1990, formed an uneasy alliance with troops
loyal to Mr Hadi in 2015 to stop the Houthis capturing Aden.But in January 2018 the separatist movement known as the Southern Transitional
Council (STC) accused the Hadi government of corruption and mismanagement, and demanded the removal of the prime minister.Southern
separatists fought Hadi loyalists after their demand for a cabinet reshuffle was rejectedClashes erupted when separatist units attempted to
seize government facilities and military bases in Aden by force.The situation was made more complex by divisions within the Saudi-led
Saudi Arabia reportedly backs Mr Hadi, who is based in Riyadh, while the United Arab Emirates is closely aligned with the separatists.Calm
was restored in Aden after a few weeks, but tensions between the two groups remain
In September, there were protests after separatist officials called for a peaceful popular uprising in the South.Suicide bombings claimed by
the Islamic State group have killed dozens of people in AdenWhat happens in Yemen can greatly exacerbate regional tensions
It also worries the West because of the threat of attacks - such as from al-Qaeda or IS affiliates - emanating from the country as it
becomes more unstable.The conflict is also seen as part of a regional power struggle between Shia-ruled Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi
Arabia.Gulf Arab states - backers of President Hadi - have accused Iran of bolstering the Houthis financially and militarily, though Iran
has denied this.Yemen is also strategically important because it sits on a strait linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, through which
much of the world's oil shipments pass.Yemen war: Has anything been achieved?By Frank GardnerThis summer's partial withdrawal of Emirati
forces from Yemen, while the war still drags on, prompts the inevitable question - has anything been achieved by anyone in this conflict?
Even the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Saudi Arabia's closest ally - pronounced on 22 July: "There was no easy victory and there will be no
easy peace."Let's start with the downside
What has been lost and the scale of the disaster here is quite staggering.The Yemen war, now in its fifth year, has rightly been branded the
worst humanitarian crisis of our time
Estimates of those killed range from 10,000 to more than 70,000, the vast majority being Yemenis and an estimated two-thirds of those deaths
from Saudi-led air strikes.According to the UN's Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, there are more than 30
front lines; more than 3.3 million people have been displaced; and 80% of the population need assistance and protection, including 10
million now reliant on food aid.Transpose those figures on to a UK population and it would notionally mean 53 million people needing help
and protection.So Yemen, already the Arab world's poorest country, has been plunged ever deeper into poverty and economic disaster.This
year, the Yemen war is already spreading beyond its borders, with missile and drone attacks by Houthi rebels on Saudi border towns, on
shipping in the Red Sea and reportedly even on targets as far away as Riyadh and the UAE.Yet for Yemen's legitimate, UN-recognised
government and its Saudi and Emirati backers, this war has always been about preventing an unacceptable takeover of the country by a tiny
minority with links to Iran - the Houthis
And in that, they have succeeded, albeit at a terrible price paid by the people of Yemen.Saudi-led air strikes have caused huge loss of life
and widespread destructionThe war did not begin with the Saudi-led air campaign in March 2015
It began six months earlier when the Houthis, a small, largely unheard-of Yemeni tribal group from the mountainous north, marched on the
capital, Sanaa, and evicted the legitimate government.Then, with the backing of forces loyal to the ousted former Yemeni President Ali
Abdallah Saleh, the Houthis took over most of the populated areas of Yemen.For Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, this felt like an
Iranian-backed coup on its southern frontier and the ruling princes resolved to act.Propelled by its inexperienced defence minister and now
Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia put together a hastily-assembled coalition and began a devastating campaign of air strikes
on Houthi positions.When I visited its operations centre in Riyadh in April 2015, the coalition spokesman was confident that within a few
months Houthi resistance would crumble and they would effectively sue for peace
Yet more than four years on, the air strikes continue
There have been peace talks, but no peace.And the British government has found itself dragged into court, accused by human rights activists
of providing weapons and munitions to the Royal Saudi Air Force which has, on several occasions over the past four years, bombed schools,
hospitals, market places and funerals, killing civilians.The Houthis, too, have committed alleged war crimes but Britain isn't supplying
them.The UAE, which at one point had up to 7,000 troops deployed in Yemen, has now reduced its contingent there to a few hundred, leaving
the Saudis and their Yemeni allies to fight the Houthis, who remain firmly embedded in and around the capital and the north of the
country.The UAE view is that its participation in this war has helped achieve several things
It has prevented a Houthi takeover of the whole country, which it considers would have ultimately given Iran control over the strategic Bab
al-Mandeb Strait between Africa and Arabia
Also, it has "liberated" most of Yemen and undermined the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group.For Saudi Arabia, though, which has sunk
billions of riyals into this war, and which now finds its towns and airports regularly targeted by increasingly sophisticated Houthi drones,
the gains are less clear.Michael Stephens, a Gulf expert with the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think-tank in London, believes the
war has been damaging for the Saudis as well as for Yemen."The war has produced little of benefit for Saudi Arabia and strategically you
could say that Riyadh is in a weaker position than it was in 2015," he said."In contrast, the UAE has been able to achieve a number of
tactical and political goals which have reinforced its position as a growing regional power."Meanwhile, the much-heralded Stockholm peace
talks of last December have failed to translate into a lasting peace deal - or even a lasting ceasefire
While others can debate what they have gained or lost in Yemen, that country's agony continues.
