The launch of military operations by Saudi Arabia and its regional allies against the Houthi rebels in Yemen wasn’t inevitable a few days ago. But after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s flight from his residence in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday and his plea for help, Riyadh’s intervention didn’t come as a surprise. Moreover, US President Barack Obama authorised “logistical and intelligence support” for the operation. Saudi Arabia has deployed 1,50,000 troops and 100 warplanes — apart from contributions from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan and others — and launched airstrikes that have caused civilian casualties as well. The Saudi-led operation is expansive, with Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and Sudan reportedly ready to join a ground offensive.
After the rebels seized the capital Sana’a last year, Yemen had steadily taken centrestage in a widening Shia-Sunni sectarian conflict. The dangers of a military intervention are obvious — Yemen’s civil war could spiral into a wider proxy war between the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran, which backs Hadi’s elected government, with its supporting Sunni tribes, and the Shiite Houthis, respectively. The overtly Sunni line-up of states against the Houthis is, therefore, a further cause for concern. The conflict is also complicated by the nuclear talks with Iran, which America’s Gulf allies are not happy with. A larger conflict could also threaten oil supplies, given that the Bab al-Mandab strait between Yemen and Djibouti and the Strait of Hormuz separating Iran from the Arabian peninsula are two choke points for global oil supplies.
