In September 2014, after days of fighting, Houthi militia took control of the capital and several important government departments. But under the mediation of a UN special envoy, they signed a ceasefire deal with the government. However, their opinions varied on how a cabinet should be put together as well as military reform.
On January 19th, 2015, Houthi militants -unhappy with the slow progress – managed to infiltrate the presidential palace after a battle with security forces and President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and his ministers were imprisoned.
The Houthis declared themselves in full control on February 6th. They dissolved parliament and the government, and installed a Revolutionary Committee instead. Two weeks later, Hadi escaped to Aden in South Yemen, and resumed his presidency. In March, Houthi militias attacked Aden, Hadi and his cabinet fled to Saudi Arabia.
As a pro-government coalition, Saudi Arabia and its allies have been bombing the Houthi militias since. The chaotic situation on the Arabian Peninsula left a vacuum for the Islamic State militant group and Al-Qaeda, as they carried out a series of terror attacks. International mediation didn’t help. In June, related parties met in Geneva for a first round of peace talks, but they came nowhere near finding a consensus.
The Saudi-Arabia led coalition retook the city of Aden in July, before recovering five more provinces in Southern Yemen. In what seemed a more secure environment, Hadi returned to Aden in September, but a terror attack on his office meant he went back to Saudi Arabia. He stayed there until November, before he,once again,came back to Aden and started directing operations against the Houthis from there.
In December, a new round of peace talks started in Switzerland, from which a temporary ceasefire deal took effect. But five days later, a UN envoy announced the cessation of the talks, as the ceasefire deal was violated. But the will was there to end the fighting and last month the coalition confirmed that its troops and the Houthis would observe a ceasefire in the Saudi-Yemen border regions. Saudi Arabia also announced a reduction in the scale of their military operations.
