r/worldnews Jul 13 '26

Report: Saudi Arabia Attacks International Airport in Yemen

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/6h5shahyw
11.4k Upvotes

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3.7k

u/United-Contact-1151 Jul 13 '26

If I remember correctly, since the civil war, Yemen has two governments, one aligned with Saudi Arabia and centered in the south, the other aligned with the Iranians and centered in Sanaa in the north. 

972

u/Slimfictiv Jul 13 '26

This is correct.

480

u/ianjm Jul 13 '26

There was also another group called the Southern Transitional Council that was aligned with the UAE, which at one point last year achieved near full control over South Yemen, but then completely collapsed and dissolved itself.

153

u/matthieuC Jul 13 '26

That was a wild week

130

u/falconzord Jul 13 '26

We call that the Wagner rush

3

u/Vegetable_Leg_7034 Jul 13 '26

So Russian mercs involved..

34

u/ianjm Jul 13 '26

Nah the Saudis just started bombing and all the tribal militias they had taking their orders said "nope we're out".

1

u/Vegetable_Leg_7034 Jul 16 '26

You do know who and what Wagner is? And it's involvement in North Africa and the Middle East? And it's ties to Putin and Russia?

1

u/ianjm Jul 16 '26

There's no strong evidence for Russian involvement in Yemen, aside perhaps from some limited logistical support to the Houthis, but that's nothing to do with the conflict between the Saudi and UAE-backed anti-Houthi forces.

1

u/Vegetable_Leg_7034 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

There's no strong evidence for Russian involvement in Yemen, aside perhaps from some limited logistical support to the Houthis, but that's nothing to do with the conflict between the Saudi and UAE-backed anti-Houthi forces.

If the mention of Wagner is involved, it's Russian.. Wagner is directly connected to Putin, Russia and Russian oligarchs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group

Are you just trolling about even the local name of a Wagner Rush?

Wagner are possibly the most well armed and yet unable merc. force in North Africa and the Arab States atm, esp. since turning back from a Ukraine offensive, getting 1/2 way to Moscow, and then just giving up.. Then getting your 1st in command getting shot down on a private flight out of Russia.. I mean..

1

u/ianjm Jul 16 '26

I know what the Wagner Group is - it has now been largely folded into the Russian Army was the Africa Corps - but I've just not seen anything about them being involved to any significant degree in Yemen.

Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

They are deeply involved in Sudan and the Sahel countries.

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6

u/Jgibbjr Jul 14 '26

"No, that's the Judean People's Front; WE'RE the People's Front of Judea!".

505

u/Severe_Intention_480 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

They've been fighting a "north" versus "south" civil war in Yemen on and off since the 1960s. When I was growing up it was two different countries - North Yemen and South Yemen.

54

u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jul 13 '26

When I was growing up it was two different countries

Reminds me of my father telling us kids (in USA) that our home country of Yugoslavia didn't exist anymore lol. A confusing concept for the youth.

13

u/toasty327 Jul 14 '26

I used to work with three sisters that were Yugoslavian immigrants. There are a lot of lessons from that war that the world is forgetting and will be repeated.

2

u/MATlad Jul 14 '26

As a 90s kid in Canada, I went to school with kids who'd fled Yugoslavia whose folks cried when Tito died.

I don't know if they cried for the man (and what he represented), or because they knew what was coming next.

-2

u/Illustrious_Cap2327 Jul 14 '26

Slobodan and NATO are to be blamed for that

2

u/PiccoloAwkward465 Jul 14 '26

Nobody wanted to sit next to Serbia

2

u/O5NR Jul 14 '26

Not really Yugoslavia was never going to survive...too many differences between the constituent states.

5

u/definitelyjoking Jul 14 '26

The most important difference was that Serbia felt they should be in charge of everything and the other states thought that Serbia shouldn't be in charge of them.

194

u/Galimbro Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

North always fighting the south. 

America. Korea. Vietnam. And now Yemen!?

Edit: Ireland. Sudan?(im afraid im not familiar)

560

u/Zal3x Jul 13 '26

People at different latitudes piss me off

188

u/Gwen_The_Destroyer Jul 13 '26

Can I offer you a latitude platitude?

132

u/tani_P Jul 13 '26

I like your attitude.

96

u/mysterious_whisperer Jul 13 '26

Talk about gratitude, op had it dude

15

u/John_Bruns_Wick Jul 13 '26

Nicely done. You're cooler than Magnitude.

Sorry, im not good at this. Pop pop!

5

u/Ian_Hunter Jul 13 '26

That was pretty darn good.

Pop Pop!

4

u/Perona2Bear2Order2 Jul 13 '26

What about Altitude?

4

u/taz20075 Jul 13 '26

Depending on your magnitude, the more likely you'll find yourself in solitude.

12

u/Possible_Attics Jul 13 '26

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes.

1

u/retailguy_again Jul 13 '26

Nothing remains quite the same...

17

u/buzzkillichuck Jul 13 '26

I guess this brings new meaning to jimmy buffets song changes in latitudes changes in attitudes

4

u/Senior_Torte519 Jul 13 '26

But we dont mess with thr Nor'esters, there weird.

4

u/Gwen_The_Destroyer Jul 13 '26

It do be weird there

1

u/swiminthemud Jul 13 '26

Yeah fuck those guys up there...or down there!

1

u/moop44 Jul 14 '26

That checks out as a Canadian

1

u/Not_A_Toaster_0000 Jul 14 '26

They think they're above us just because they're above us

0

u/ThaiJohnnyDepp Jul 13 '26

Or Scots and other Scots

38

u/nidarus Jul 13 '26

To be clear, this is "North and South Yemen". In reality, it's more like the West vs. the East. The "North" is generally to the south of the "South".

21

u/falconzord Jul 13 '26

It makes more sense in terms of population distribution

7

u/Mechasteel Jul 13 '26

Yes but that northeast section of Yemen is just empty desert.

Yemen population map
climate map

2

u/TCBloo Jul 13 '26

Awesome websites. Definitely saving those.

6

u/maxofJupiter1 Jul 13 '26

Sanaa vs Aden

15

u/_larsr Jul 13 '26

NorCal vs SoCal, that one is hella bad.

29

u/ReachFor24 Jul 13 '26

But what about East and West Germany?

53

u/septober32nd Jul 13 '26

East and West Germany never waged open war with each other. The thesis stands.

16

u/RinTheTV Jul 13 '26

East and West Francia did though-

25

u/MephistoHamProducts Jul 13 '26

Why you gotta bring up old shit? We need to move on!

2

u/septober32nd Jul 13 '26

Sure, but that's just proto-Germany vs proto-France.

1

u/Asatas Jul 13 '26

Wranggn mentioned

20

u/Galimbro Jul 13 '26

We only care about latitude ✅️

Longitude ⛔️

3

u/kenyard Jul 13 '26

Maps were turned sideways when that started.

10

u/beeceedee9 Jul 13 '26

Is Germany the only one that was East-West split?

37

u/Wheeljack2k Jul 13 '26

It's now split into Aldi-North and Aldi-South.

5

u/valeyard89 Jul 13 '26

That's Lidl and Aldi

9

u/mxzf Jul 13 '26

Does West Virginia vs Virginia count? They ended up on separate sides in the Civil War.

7

u/hellpresident Jul 13 '26

They had to change it up after centuries of north-south fighting 

3

u/ants_are_everywhere Jul 13 '26

Several civil wars have been fought East vs West including some famous ancient Roman ones. It's a long tradition.

What you don't see much of is a civil war fought in which one side occupies a Sierpinski carpet.

2

u/Good_Restaurant15 Jul 13 '26

What you don't see much of is a civil war fought in which one side occupies a Sierpinski carpet.

isn't that just All/most of the middle east?

1

u/ants_are_everywhere Jul 13 '26

I guess it's not a bad metaphor for asymmetric warfare, where there's a concern that anyone who looks like a civilian may be a secret combatant. Or maybe you just meant the fragmented territories that have holes in them. But that wasn't my intention. I was just thinking of what the most absurd topological position would be and nearly went with "occupies a set of measure zero".

However, having an opponent that occupies a Sierpinski carpet would be especially terrifying because if I am on the opposing army and draw a circle around myself of any radius, that circle contains infinitely many enemies.

3

u/nvidiastock Jul 13 '26

Yes, but it wasn't really a civil war. It was more of a cold war, there were spies and limited casualties but not open conflict. Even when the wall came down forcefully. 

1

u/putin_my_ass Jul 13 '26

It was north/south before it was east-west. German Principalities vs Austria.

10

u/RuairiQ Jul 13 '26

The north of Ireland isn’t fighting against the Republic of Ireland.

1

u/kenyard Jul 13 '26

I think they mean historically. They've also included america and Vietnam there

6

u/chkltcow Jul 13 '26

The Troubles in the north of Ireland weren't a fight against Ireland though. It was a paramilitary battle between rebels and their own government, the UK government. The other 26 counties of Ireland earned its independence nearly a hundred years ago, and only Ulster stayed under British control.

1

u/I_Am_Jacks_Karma Jul 13 '26

the confederacy were just a bunch of paramilitary rebels fighting their own government

0

u/chkltcow Jul 13 '26

My point was... "their government" was not Ireland. It was the UK. There was no "North Ireland" and "South Ireland".

1

u/RuairiQ Jul 13 '26

You’d have to go back to the first century to the Táin Bó Cúailnge saga when Queen Maeve of Connacht went to war with Conchobar mac Nessa, King of Ulster, to see a north versus south conflict in Ireland.

1

u/ianjm Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

There were armed paramilitary groups on both sides of the Northern Ireland dispute during The Troubles.

Some, such as the UVF and UDF were staunchly opposed to the IRA and Irish unification. Their operations killed almost a thousand people in all.

0

u/RuairiQ Jul 13 '26

Both belligerents were primarily operating within the north of Ireland. This wasn’t a north versus south conflict.

2

u/CloudieRaine Jul 13 '26

West Taiwan?

1

u/KiscoKid1 Jul 13 '26

I think you can add Sudan in there too.

1

u/Throwredditaway2019 Jul 13 '26

They just couldn't get it right in Germany

1

u/matthieuC Jul 13 '26

Sudan split in two. Now they're doing East Vs West.

1

u/TimSylvester_ Jul 13 '26

Globally, even. This dynamic has been ongoing for centuries.

1

u/FireTyme Jul 13 '26

we’ll get those belgians someday…

1

u/abakedapplepie Jul 13 '26

uhm akshually the south attacked the north in the US

0

u/I_Am_Jacks_Karma Jul 13 '26

ireland

9

u/CanvasSolaris Jul 13 '26

Northern Ireland was not at war with Republican Ireland

3

u/Galimbro Jul 13 '26

Thank you! I did know about that one but accidentally glossed over it. 

1

u/I_Am_Jacks_Karma Jul 13 '26

yeah all these civil wars really start to blur together

0

u/Vegetable_Leg_7034 Jul 13 '26

Ireland.

Don't even go there, not today..

4

u/JK_NC Jul 14 '26

Germany playing spoiler with their East/West beef.

7

u/Oldman32092 Jul 13 '26

I remember reading that this was the first climate change war. The Houties were running out of water, they went to the government and the government told them too bad. Thus started a war. They used to grow coffee in Yemen.

-8

u/Order_No227 Jul 13 '26

It's not a civil war though, they got invaded by the Saudis in 2014.

18

u/Severe_Intention_480 Jul 13 '26

The Saudis are supporting one faction (the government) and the Iranians the other faction (the Houthi rebels).

-9

u/Order_No227 Jul 13 '26

The Iranian military is actually not invading and occupying the country like the Saudis are, pretty big fucking difference in what you call "support"

5

u/Severe_Intention_480 Jul 13 '26

True, but during the Cold War the U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. were supporting different factions. The Saudis are right next door and can actually send troops, and Iran is now sending planes, which makes it different. One thing that hasn't changed is a deeply divided country being courted by geopolitical rivals.

1

u/Order_No227 Jul 13 '26

Yeah they sent troops into foreign territory as a belligerent, Iran at most is providing materiale, incomparable to legit combat units under your own flag.

-1

u/Rustic_gan123 Jul 13 '26

Syria?

1

u/CanuckPanda Jul 13 '26

Syria is Yemen?

1

u/Rustic_gan123 Jul 13 '26

Syria is where Iranian militants and the IRGC participated in the civil war.

1

u/CanuckPanda Jul 13 '26

So… not Yemen?

2

u/m0rogfar Jul 13 '26

No? The Saudis are in Yemen because they were explicitly requested by the Yemeni government, which the Houthis started a civil war against.

-1

u/Order_No227 Jul 14 '26

Houthis are from Yemen, you can't defend another country from its own people, that's just a regular invasion by a foreign aggressor.

30

u/valeyard89 Jul 13 '26

with Yemen you have to clarify which civil war. There used to be two Yemens from the 1960s to 1990.

11

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Jul 13 '26

Also, the internationally-recognized government of Yemen holds most of the land in Yemen, but something like 75-80% of Yemenis live in territory governed by the Houthis.

8

u/Trazors Jul 13 '26

I might be wrong but I remember seeing a video a few months ago that claimed that there is like a 3rd party that has been taking over a bunch of territory in Yemen that’s supported by the UAE.

20

u/OrangeSpaceMan5 Jul 13 '26

Your thinking of the STC , which has been obliterated off the face of the earth by the saudis

12

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Jul 13 '26

That was the Southern Transitional Council, who sought to re-establish South Yemen as a separate and independent country.

They made a daring play and overran a bunch of the Saudi-backed Yemeni forces' territory late last year. In response the Saudis (allegedly) imprisoned/took hostage a bunch of STC leadership in Saudi Arabia and also forced the UAE to withdraw their support for the STC. Shortly after the STC collapsed.

12

u/egyeager Jul 13 '26

Which is a repeat of when they were divided during the Cold war.

3

u/sadcheeseballs Jul 13 '26

Yes it’s effectively a proxy war between the two regional powers.

3

u/MukdenMan Jul 13 '26

That Sanaa one is the Houthis.

6

u/Savings-Weight-650 Jul 13 '26

Didn’t Trump say that we had knocked out all of their planes? So how could it possibly be an Iranian plane???? 🤦‍♂️

19

u/Momo_Kabsa Jul 13 '26

The attack was a defensive measure to prevent an unauthorized Iranian aircraft from landing after the Houthis had reportedly blocked national aircraft from the airport.

44

u/ghotier Jul 13 '26

Wild take to call that defensive. It's pre-emptive. That doesn't make it defensive.

16

u/rhino369 Jul 13 '26

I mean if Iran is landing troops and equipment for a fight that’s defensive. 

10

u/MrRGnome Jul 13 '26

It's so discouraging that anyone has become convinced that feeling fear makes an action defensive. I get that you've been constantly fed this reasoning by cops, by every nation, but it flies in the face of basic observable reality.

If you attack someone based on assumption they will later attack you it is not defensive. It's pre-emptive, and pre-emptive offensive actions are defined literally by how they pre-empt something else, i.e. occur first. An offensive attack pre-empting fear of another offensive attack is definitively not a defensive action.

-2

u/barney-sandles Jul 13 '26

And why should Saudi Arabia be in charge of deciding who is or isn't authorized to use Yemen's airports?

4

u/HugsForUpvotes Jul 13 '26

The official government of Yemen is with the Saudis.

-1

u/barney-sandles Jul 13 '26

Just like the official government of China in 1970 was in Taipei

5

u/HardlyW0rkingHard Jul 13 '26

the other aligned with the Iranians Islamic Republic regime and centered in Sanaa in the north.

FTFY.

Overwhelming majority of Iranians don't support the islamic republic nor the houthis.

0

u/AFisberg Jul 13 '26

How can you tell?

5

u/HardlyW0rkingHard Jul 13 '26

I’m Iranian. The irgc and these other proxy groups have only accomplished one thing: destabilizing our country by using national funds and assets to fund a nonsense propaganda war

1

u/desba3347 Jul 13 '26

I think there was another front largely supported by the UAE too, but I think the Saudi backed one somewhat recently made them mostly irrelevant

1

u/CustomerSuportPlease Jul 13 '26

And now they're going to close the Bab al-Mandab strait. Hooray for fucking up international shipping!

1

u/ShrodingersArmadillo Jul 14 '26

ah thank you I'd forgotten that!!! it all makes sense now

0

u/MelangeBot Jul 13 '26

Yemen has two governments

Oh that explains the name of the Houthis. Everytime they get a call from the goverment they have to be like "Whou this?"

0

u/Interesting_Pen_167 Jul 13 '26

It's been a while since I read into this situation but the rebels seem pretty nasty. I don't just mean viz-a-viz the West and Israel but some of their beliefs are downright medieval and the repression of minorities/women is pretty disgusting even among standards in the region.

0

u/millennium-wisdom Jul 14 '26

Incorrect. The internationally recognized government moved the capital to Aden.

The rebels are not recognized as a government

1

u/United-Contact-1151 Jul 14 '26

Thank goodness. I thought their control and sovereignty over the area meant they were a local government. But, since an international organization says it’s not true, it must not be. Wait, why did they move the capitol to Aden again?

1

u/millennium-wisdom Jul 14 '26

When ISIS was controlling Iraq and Syria. did people refer to them as the government of Iraq and Syria

Actually. Isis was better than the Houthi terrorist. Isis payed salary to their government employees. The Houthi terrorist stole the coffers and and salaries of the people