(Anti Media) Since the death of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Saudi Arabia has intensified their air strike attacks on civilian areas. Targets frequently include homes, offices, prisons, weddings, markets, vehicles, water pumps, hospitals, and other vital infrastructure.
Who is the Saudi Coalition?
The Saudi coalition against Yemen includes most members of the Gulf Cooperation Council excluding Qatar and Oman. The United Arab Emirates is a particularly prominent player as they currently occupy most of southern Yemen.
Rather than send their own troops to die on the front lines, Riyadh and Dubai outsource the work to various actors. Sudan sends thousands of fighters to support Saudi and Emirati forces. Saudi Arabia and Qatar (a previous member of the coalition) deposited over $2 billion into Khartoum’s central bank as a payment.
Members of the coalition — particularly the UAE — employ Blackwater mercenaries to fight in Yemen. These fighters hail from a variety of countries and are essentially contract killers. The United States also has ground troops stationed in Yemen supporting Saudi and Emirati forces.
Many western nations supply arms and military support to Saudi Arabia including France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. However, no nation has provided more than the United States. In May of this year, Donald Trump followed in the footsteps of his predecessor by signing a $100 billion arms deal with Riyadh.
This war against Yemen would not be possible without US support to and encouragement for Saudi Arabia.
Crippling Siege and Blockade
The list below only tracks deaths and destruction from military activities such as air strikes. It does not include deaths caused by the siege and blockade. This number adds an additional several thousand and is nearly impossible to track.
Shortly after beginning their military campaign, Riyadh also initiated a land, sea, and air blockade. This essentially turned Yemen into an open-air prison.
Medical supplies are scarce which leaves many Yemenis to die from preventable diseases or chronic conditions like diabetes. The blockade has triggered a cholera epidemic completely unprecedented in modern times killing nearly 3,000 and infecting nearly 1 million.
The Sana’a airport has been closed to commercial travel for years so patients may not leave the country for medical care. Saudi air strikes recently targeted the airport’s infrastructure to ensure to aid planes may land there anytime soon.
To top it off, government workers like teachers, nurses, and doctors have not received salaries in months due to the blockade.
Here’s exactly what 1,000 days of war against Yemen has destroyed:
Civilian Casualties | |
35,415 | Killed & Wounded |
13,603 | Killed |
2,887 | Children |
2,027 | Women |
8,689 | Men |
21,812 | Wounded |
2,722 | Children |
2,233 | Women |
16,857 | Men |
Civilian Infrastructure | |
Homes & Mosques | |
409,356 | Homes |
826 | Mosques |
Education & Media | |
827 | Schools |
118 | University Facilities |
30 | Media Facilities |
Public Services | |
301 | Hospitals & Health Facilities |
1,684 | Government Buildings |
174 | Power Generators |
524 | Water Pumps & Treatment Facilities |
387 | Telecommunication Networks |
106 | Sport Facilities |
Landmark Facilities | |
211 | Acheological sites |
255 | Tourist Facilities |
Transportation | |
15 | Airports |
14 | Seaports |
2,144 | Roads & Bridges |
3,387 | Cars and buses |
548 | Food Trucks |
251 | Fuel Tankers |
Commercial & Agriculture | |
6,393 | Businesses |
2,256 | Agricultural farms |
593 | Markets |
300 | Factories |
337 | Gas Stations |
692 | Food Stores |
245 | Livestock Farms |