Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NORTHERN YEMEN
The rough-and-ready north has always been Yemen's hardest and proudest region and even
today its fierce tribes are regarded with trepidation and respect by the rest of the country.
Parts of this area seem to be always engaged in some kind of dispute, and armed conflict
between tribes and the central government is common. At the time of writing the entire re-
gion was out of bounds to foreign tourists and we have been unable to conduct on-ground
research in Sa'da and Shaharah since 2007 and in the rest of the region since late 2009.
In the province of Sa'da a violent uprising has dragged on since 2004 between govern-
ment forces and a group of Zaydi fighters called the Al-Houthis. The group is led by Abdul
Malik al-Houthi who claims they're fighting discrimination of their minority Shia commu-
nity whilst the Yemeni government claim they are trying to overthrow the government and
install Shia religious rule. After several false ceasefires the government launched a full-
scale offensive against the rebels in August 2009. The conflict quickly became internation-
al after clashes erupted between the Houthis and Saudi forces. At one point the Houthis had
even managed to occupy several villages in Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni government also ac-
cuses Iran of backing the rebels, while the Houthis make counter-accusations that Al-Qaeda
has joined Sunni tribal fighters in aiding the government forces against them and, ironic-
ally, that the US were launching aerial bombardments against them (the US responded by
saying they were attacking Al-Qaeda elements). Finally, if there weren't already enough
players in the mix, a number of tribal groups opposed to the Houthis joined the fight on the
side of the government. A ceasefire in early 2010 didn't stop the fighting completely but it
certainly helped reduce it. However, when the wider Yemeni revolution began in 2011 the
Houthis quickly aligned themselves with the protesters and by March of that year they had
taken control of Sa'da city as well as much of the province; and by the middle of 2011 they
also controlled much of neighbouring Al-Jawf province; by the end of the year they had ad-
vanced into Amran and Hajjah governorates; and by the end of 2012 the Houthis were even
in control of parts of Sana'a governorate. Today, they have essentially carved out a state
within a state.
The upshot of all this fighting has of course been the widespread creation of internally
displaced people (the UN estimates that around 366,000 people have been made homeless
by the conflict so far), hundreds of civilian deaths and the breakdown of normal govern-
ment services in the north. Both Unicef and Islamic Relief Worldwide accuse the Houthis
of using child soldiers. The current chaos in Yemen, and extreme danger for outsiders in
north Yemen means that very few journalists have had access to the Sa'da region for a
