Sanaa

Conflict background

The Houthis took over Sanaa city on 21 September 2014, culminating the group’s advance from its stronghold in the northern governorate of Saada to the country’s capital. The group’s advance was facilitated by their partnership of convenience with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces still loyal to the long-serving autocrat. Having defeated the main IRG units to the north of the city, Houthi supporters initially entered the capital under the guise of protests against the wildly unpopular cabinet decision to lift fuel subsidies.²Mohammed Ghobari, ‘Tens of thousands of Yemeni Houthis protest against fuel reform, government,’ Reuters, 18 August 2014 The protests, which started in August, quickly took a violent turn, reaching a tipping point in September when Houthi and Saleh troops took to the streets, forcing the cabinet’s resignation.³BBC, ‘Houthi rebels and militia clash in Sanaa,’ 19 September 2014 

The United Nations managed to reach a temporary de-escalation between the sides, brokering the Peace and National Partnership Agreement (PNPA) between the IRG and the Houthis. Based on the agreement, a new cabinet was appointed in October with the participation of the Houthis, but tensions continued until President Abdurabbuh Mansur Hadi and Prime Minister Khalid Bahah resigned in January 2015. In response, the Houthis withdrew from the government, placing Hadi under house arrest before he managed to escape to Aden in February. After Hadi’s escape, Houthi-Saleh forces launched a campaign towards the new IRG capital under the guise of counter-terrorism operations,⁴Sameha Ayoub, ‘Supreme Revolutionary Commission Declares General Mobilization,’ Yemen Observer, 21 March 2015 following simultaneous suicide bombings on two Shiite mosques that killed at least 142 people. Islamic State in Yemen (ISY) claimed the attack.⁵BBC, ‘More than 100 die in attacks on Sanaa mosques,’ 20 March 2015

Upon the Houthi forces reaching Aden and conducting several airstrikes on the city, the Saudi-led Coalition announced its intervention in the civil war, starting a country-wide bombing campaign marked by initial strikes on the Houthi-held capital. The Sanaa region was subject to heavy Coalition airstrikes over the seven years that followed, with several incidents causing mass civilian casualties. Most notably, airstrikes that hit a funeral gathering in October 2016 – purportedly targeting high-profile political and military figures – caused over 600 civilian casualties.⁶Human Rights Watch, ‘Saudi-Led Funeral Attack Apparent War Crime,’ 13 October 2016 

On the ground, the fighting did not reach Sanaa city. The frontlines’ closest proximity to the capital was in February 2016 when the IRG launched a counter-offensive to the northeast of Sanaa governorate,⁷Associated Press, ‘Fighting intensifies to the east of Sanaa,’ 2 February 2016 managing to push through al-Jawf and reach the bordering district of Nihm, about 40 kilometers from the capital.⁸Al Jazeera, ‘Dozens killed in Yemen as army moves towards Sanaa,’ 3 February 2016 This put the IRG forces and loyalist tribes within artillery range of the city’s outskirts, including Sanaa airport, but this was the closest they got to the capital. The front remained deadlocked for most of the next four years, interspersed with brief upticks in fighting as one or the other of the sides sought to break the stalemate. In January 2020, an IRG campaign to advance on Sanaa backfired and Houthi forces were able to reverse their previous losses, advancing into al-Jawf and Marib.⁹Debriefer, ‘Yemeni govt attacks Houthi forces at several fronts,’ 22 January 2020

However, clashes did break out in Sanaa in December 2017 after long-running tensions between the Houthis and Saleh escalated following the former president’s declaration that he was ready to start a new page with the Saudi-led Coalition and end their partnership.¹⁰Reuters, ‘Yemen’s Saleh says ready for ‘new page’ with Saudi-led coalition,’ 2 December 2017 Initially, Saleh’s forces managed to capture several positions in and around the city, but were soon overwhelmed by the superior Houthi forces, despite supportive Coalition airstrikes, leading many units to defect to the Houthi side.¹¹Faisal Edroos, ‘How did Yemen’s Houthi-Saleh alliance collapse?,’ Al-Jazeera, 4 December 2017 Saleh died as he tried to escape the city, and his remaining forces were quickly defeated.

Since then, airstrikes remained the most consistent threat to the region, although the overall number of strikes fell after the end of the Houthi-Saleh clashes. The only exceptions were two periods of intensive airstrikes on Sanaa and Amanat al-Asima: January to March 2020¹²Yemen Data Project, ‘Surge in Air Raids for First Month of 2020,’ February 2020 and December to January 2022.¹³Yemen Data Project, ‘Yemen Under Longest Period of Heavy Bombing in Four Years,’ March 2022 The first coincided with the heavy ground fighting in Nihm as control over the district went back and forth between IRG and Houthi forces, during which Coalition jets provided air support. The second came in the lead-up to the UN-mediated truce in 2022 when Coalition jets retaliated for a series of Houthi drone and missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates,¹⁴Alexander Cornwell, Alaa Swilam, and Phil Stewart, ‘Yemen’s Houthis fail in second missile attack on UAE,’ Reuters, 24 January 2022 marking the deadliest period since 2019.¹⁵Al-Jazeera, ‘Saudi-led coalition launches deadly air raids in Yemen’s Sanaa,’ 18 January 2022

There have been no more coalition airstrikes on the region since 26 March 2022 despite the expiration of the UN-mediated ceasefire six months later. However, the start of US-led strikes on Yemen in response to the Houthi Red Sea attacks hit several sites in the Sanaa region in early 2024. The al-Daylami Air Base adjoined to the Sanaa Airport was a repeat target starting 11 January, along with the al-Hafa military camp in the south of the city, while anti-ship missiles were struck in the wider governorate.