List of wars involving Yemen

This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Yemen and its predecessor states.

North Yemen

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Head of State
1931 Saudi–Yemeni border skirmish (1931)	Kingdom of Yemen	Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd	Unclear[1]	Imam Yahya
Najran conflict (1931/1932–1932)	Kingdom of Yemen	Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd	Defeat Yemeni invasion of Saudi Arabia repelled[1]
Saudi–Yemeni War (1934)	Kingdom of Yemen	Saudi Arabia	Defeat Yemeni invasion of Saudi Arabia repelled[2]
First Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949)	Arab League:  Egypt[3] All-Palestine Protectorate[a] Holy War Army[a] Transjordan[3]  Iraq[3] Syria[3] Lebanon[b] Saudi Arabia[5]  Yemen[6] Irregulars: Arab Liberation Army Al-Najjada Holy War Army	Israel Before 26 May 1948: Yishuv Paramilitary groups: Haganah Palmach Hish Him Irgun Lehi Allied Bedouin tribes[7][8] After 26 May 1948: Israel Defense Forces Minorities Unit Foreign volunteers: Mahal	Defeat Arab League invasion of former Mandatory Palestine repelled 1949 Armistice Agreements Establishment of the State of Israel, Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight Beginning of the Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency	Ahmad bin Yahya
North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970)	Royalists Saudi Arabia	Republicans United Arab Republic	Regime change[9] End of the Kingdom of Yemen	Muhammad al-Badr
Yemenite War of 1972 (1972)	North Yemen	South Yemen	Ceasefire[10] Yemens pledge to unify	Abdul Rahman al-Eryani
NDF Rebellion (1978–1982)	North Yemen	NDF	Government victory[11] Defeat of the National Democratic Front	Ali Abdullah Saleh
Yemenite War of 1979 (1979)	North Yemen	South Yemen	Ceasefire[12] Yemens re-pledge ambition to unify

South Yemen

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Head of Government
Aden Emergency (1963–1967)	NLF	United Kingdom Federation of South Arabia Protectorate of South Arabia South Arabian League Supported by: Saudi Arabia FLOSY Supported by: United Arab Republic	Yemeni NLF victory British withdrawal Independence of South Yemen	None
Al-Wadiah War (1969)	South Yemen	Saudi Arabia Supported by: Pakistan (air support)	Saudi victory al-Wadiah and Sharurah captured by Saudi forces	Muhammad Ali Haitham
Yemenite War of 1972 (1972)	South Yemen Cuba	North Yemen	Status quo ante bellum	Ali Nasir Muhammad
Lebanese Civil War (1976–1977)	ADF Syria Saudi Arabia Sudan United Arab Emirates Libya South Yemen	LF	Withdrawal South Yemen withdraws from the ADF force in 1977
Ogaden War (1977–1978)	Ethiopia Cuba Soviet Union South Yemen	Somalia WSLF	Victory Somali withdrawal from Ogaden
Eritrean War of Independence (1977–1990)	Ethiopia Cuba South Yemen	ELF EPLF	Defeat Independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia
Yemenite War of 1979 (1979)	South Yemen	North Yemen	South Yemeni victory
South Yemen Civil War (1986)	al-Zomrah	al-Toghmah	al-Toghmah faction victory Defeat of al-Zomrah faction and their exile to the Yemen Arab Republic Death of Abdul Fattah Ismail, Ali Antar, Saleh Moslih, and Ali Shayi' Assumption of power by Ali Salem al Beidh and Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas	Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas
Yemeni Civil War (1994)	Democratic Republic of Yemen	Yemen Islamic Jihad in Yemen[13]	Unionist victory[c]

Unified Yemen

Conflict	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result	Head of State
Yemeni Civil War (1994)	Yemen Islamic Jihad in Yemen[13]	Democratic Republic of Yemen	Unionist victory[d]	Ali Abdullah Saleh
Hanish Islands conflict (1995)	Yemen	Eritrea	Eritrean military victory[14] Eritrean occupation of Greater Hanish until 1998.[15] The Permanent Court of Arbitration determined that most of the archipelago belonged to Yemen, while some small islands closest to Eritrea belonged to Eritrea.[16][17]
Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen (1998[18] – present)	Republic of Yemen (internationally recognized; led by the PLC since 2022) Yemeni Armed Forces Republican Guard[19][20][21] General People's Congress (anti-Houthi) STC (2022–present)[e] United Arab Emirates[26] Yemeni National Resistance (2017–present)[27][28][20] Tihamah Resistance[20] Giants Brigades[29][30] Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance[31] Al-Islah Bani Dhabyan[32] Saleh loyalists (2017–present)[33][34] Popular Resistance Committees[35] Popular Committees Saudi-led coalition Saudi Arabia[36] United Arab Emirates[37] Sudan[38][39] Senegal[40] Morocco[41] (2015–19)[42] Qatar (2015–17)[43] Bahrain[44] Academi security guards (2015–16) Supported by: United States[45][46][47]  U.S. Navy[f]  United States Army[51] (Special Forces) United Kingdom[g] France Canada South Korea National Intelligence Service[56][57][58] Belarus Belarusian military specialists [be][59][60][61] Malaysia Australia STC (2017–2022)[62] United Arab Emirates	al-Qaeda AQAP Ansar al-Sharia Islamic Emirate of Yemen Aden-Abyan Islamic Army Council of Sunni Scholars and al-Jama'a Hadrami Domestic Council faction[63][64] al-Dhahab tribesmen Supported by: al-Shabaab (2009–present)[65][66][67] (alleged) al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (2009–2017) al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (2014–present) Al-Nusra Front (2012–2017)[68] Alleged Support: Iran[69] (denied) Qatar (denied) Supreme Political Council (formerly SRC) Houthi movement General People's Congress (pro-Houthi) Saleh loyalists (until 2017) Pro-Houthi Popular Committees[70] Sanaa-GPC forces[71] Alleged support: Iran[72][73] Hezbollah[74] North Korea[75][76][77][78] Islamic State Islamic State - Yemen Province	Ongoing Escalation into crisis and civil war Yemeni Crisis begins in late January 2011 On 31 March 2011, AQAP declared the Islamic Emirate of Yemen
First Sa'dah War (2004)	Yemen	Houthis	Government victory Death of Hussein al-Houthi
Second Sa'dah War (2005)	Yemen	Houthis	Government victory Houthis surrender after signing a deal[79]
Third Sa'dah War (2005–2006)	Yemen	Houthis	Government victory Fighting ends before Presidential election
Fourth Sa'dah War (2007)	Yemen	Houthis	Government victory Rebel leaders go into exile
Fifth Sa'dah War (2008)	Yemen	Houthis	Stalemate Yemeni government declares unilateral ceasefire
Sixth Sa'dah War (2009–2010)	Yemen[80] Hashed tribesmen[81] Saudi Arabia Alleged support: Morocco[82] Jordan[82]	Houthis Alleged support: Iran Quds Force Hezbollah[83]	Stalemate[84] Ceasefire after rebels accepted the government's truce conditions.
South Yemen insurgency (2009– present)	Government Yemen Army Yemeni Republican Guard Yemeni Air Force Yemen Paramilitary Pro-government tribes[85] Al-Islah militias Supported by: Saudi Arabia	Southern Transitional Council (since 2017) Southern Movement Southern Resistance[86] Security Belt Supported by: United Arab Emirates	Ongoing
Yemeni Revolution (2011–2012)	Government: General People's Congress Yemen Army Yemeni Police Force Central Security Organization Republican Guards Yemeni Air Force Pro-government tribes	Opposition: Joint Meeting Parties[87] Al-Islah[88] Yemeni Socialist Party[88] Southern Movement[89] Houthis[90] Student activists[91] Hashid[92] Alliance of Yemeni Tribes[93] Defected soldiers[94] Civil Bloc[95] National Dialogue Committee[96]	Overthrow of Saleh government Resignation of Prime Minister Mujawar Resignation of MPs from the ruling party[97] Occupation of several regions and cities in Yemen by Al-Qaeda and Houthi rebels AQAP declares the Islamic Emirate of Yemen Restructure of the military forces by sacking several of its leaders[98] Approval of President's immunity from prosecution by Yemeni legislators[99] One candidate Presidential election held to replace Saleh as the new president of Yemen; Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi elected and inaugurated
Seventh Sa'dah War (2012–2015)	Yemen	Houthis	Escalation into full-scale civil war Houthis take control of northern Yemen	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi
Yemeni Civil War (2014– present)	Republic of Yemen (internationally-recognized; led by the PLC since 2022) Yemeni Armed Forces Republican Guard GPC STC (2022–present)[e] United Arab Emirates[26] National Resistance (2017–present)[27][28][20] Tihamah Resistance[20] Giants Brigades[29][30] Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance[31] Al-Islah Bani Dhabyan[32] Saleh loyalists (2017–present)[33][34] Popular Resistance[35] Popular Committees Saudi-led coalition Saudi Arabia[36] United Arab Emirates[37][100] Sudan Senegal[40] Morocco[41] (2015–19)[42] Qatar (2015–17)[43] Kuwait Bahrain Academi security guards (2015–16) Janjaweed (2019-2023)[101] STC (2017–2022)[62] United Arab Emirates[102][103][104]	Supreme Political Council (formerly SRC) Houthis GPC (pro-Houthi) Saleh loyalists (until 2017) Pro-Houthi Popular Committees[70] Sanaa-GPC forces[71] Al-Qaeda and allies[105] AQAP[106] Ansar al-Sharia[107][108] Council of Scholars of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'ah[109][110] Hadhrami Domestic council[111][108][112] Dhi Na'im tribe[111] Al-Hamiqan tribe[111] Islamic State Yemen Province	Ongoing, ceasefire since 2 April 2022 with some periodic clashes Houthis take control of Sanaa (2014) Saudi Arabian-led coalition forces intervene from 2015, backing the Hadi-led government Former President Saleh is killed (2017) United Nations announce two-month nationwide truce on 2 April 2022; further extended on 2 June and officially expired in October but still active[113] Hadi-led government resigns (7 April 2022) Transfer of power to the PLC, consisting of STC representatives[23][24][25] Rashad al-Alimi becomes President and STC President Aidarus al-Zoubaidi becomes Vice President STC launches an offensive against the Islah party, taking large amounts of territory (August 2022) Negotiations to end the civil war that include all major combatants[114] start in April 2023 after Iran and Saudi Arabia resume diplomatic relations[115][116] Red Sea crisis begins in 2023 leading to Operation Prosperity Guardian, 2024 missile strikes in Yemen and March 2025 United States attacks in Yemen.	Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi (Cabinet of Yemen) Mohammed Ali al-Houthi (SPC)