Yemenis rally in Sanaa to support Houthis on conflict anniversary | News | DW | 26.03.2019

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Yemenis rally in Sanaa to support Houthis on conflict anniversary

To mark four years of conflict in Yemen, thousands of people turned out in the capital Sanaa to support Houthi rebels. It came as a hospital was hit by an airstrike that left seven people dead.

Tausende demonstrieren im Jemen gegen Saudi-Arabien (picture-alliance/dpa/S. Abdulrhman)

Thousands of Yemenis held a rally in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday to show their support for the Houthi rebel movement after four years of conflict.

"Our men are in all provinces. Our people will be victorious," Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of the rebel group's Supreme Political Council, told the crowd as he vowed victory in the war.

Read more: Yemen: The devastating war waged with European weapons

Demonstrators waved flags with the red, white and black national colors as they gathered in al-Sabeen Square in the center of rebel-controlled Sanaa, with senior Houthi officials turning out for the occasion.

Tausende demonstrieren im Jemen gegen Saudi-Arabien (picture-alliance/dpa/S. Abdulrhman)

Protesters raised placards calling for steadfastness against what they described as aggression with pictures of rebels killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes.

They chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia, and the United States, which backs it.

Read more: In Yemen's war, locals struggle to stay neutral

Yemen is one of the Arab world's poorest countries and has been entangled in a conflict since late 2014 with thousands of people killed.

As protesters rallied, NGO Save The Children said one of the hospitals it supports in Yemen was hit by an airstrike. Seven people died, the humanitarian aid group said, when a missile struck a gasoline station near the entrance to Ritaf rural hospital, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the city of Saada in northwestern Yemen on Tuesday morning.

  • Tribesmen loyal to Houthi rebels mobilize in Sanaa

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters

    The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.

  • A malnourished child lies in a bed waiting to receive treatment at a therapeutic feeding center

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Fighting keeps food from the famished

    The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.

  • A woman of the Muhammasheen tribe holds her child in a camp for displaced persons

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Displacement: Converging crises

    More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.

  • Nurses attend to a boy who is suspected of being infected with cholera

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Cholera: A deadly epidemic

    The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.

  • A Yemeni man holds a photo of a child who allegedly died after being injured in a drone strike

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'

    In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.

  • A young boy who lost his leg due to Yemen's conflict uses a prosthetic limb at a government-run rehabilitation center

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy

    In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.

  • Yemeni men are silhouetted against a large representation of the Yemeni flag.

    Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis

    Peace: An elusive future

    Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.

    Author: Lewis Sanders IV


Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the blame lay with Saudi Arabia and its allies for rejecting peace.

Read more: In Yemen war, coalition forces rely on German arms and technology

The Saudis accuse Iran of supplying the Houthis with arms, including drones and missiles — accusations that Iran and the Houthis deny.

"On the eve of the war's shameful fifth year, a reminder that it's not too late to stop the nightmare that this war has become," Zarif said on Twitter.

Saudi-led attacks have killed nearly 4,600 out of the 7,000 civilians who have died in the war, according to recent figures by the UN Human Rights Office.

Hundreds of thousands are facing starvation with tens of thousands of children estimated to have died from malnutrition.

The number of Yemenis who need humanitarian aid rose by 2 million to 24 million last year, a number that equates to 80 percent of the country's population.

law/jm (dpa, Reuters)

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