The Battle of Sanaa (2017) was fought between forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a. Both sides were allied during the 2014–15 Houthi takeover of the government but the alliance ended when Saleh decided to break ranks with the Houthis and call for dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are leading a military intervention in Yemen. Fighting then broke out between the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh as the Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi areas, ultimately resulting in Saleh's death and a Houthi victory.

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Battle of Sanaa (2017)
Part of the Yemeni Crisis and the Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)
Situation in Sana'a, early December 2017   Houthi control   Saleh control (Before being expelled)
Date 28 November 2017 – 4 December 2017 (6 days)[1][2] Location Sana'a, Yemen Result Houthi victory[2] Ali Abdullah Saleh killed by Houthi forces[3] Houthis gain total control of Sana'a[4]
Belligerents
Supreme Political Council Houthis General People's Congress (pro-Houthi wing)[5][6]	Saleh loyalists General People's Congress (pro-Saleh wing) Republican Guard Supported by: Saudi-led coalition:[7]  Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates
Commanders and leaders
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi Mohammed Ali al-Houthi Saleh Ali al-Sammad	Ali Abdullah Saleh † Tareq Saleh (WIA)[8] Khaled Ali Saleh (POW) Aref al-Zouka †[5]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown number of killed, 600 soldiers captured and later released[9]
234 killed, 400 wounded overall (per the ICRC and the UN)[10][11]

Close

The Houthis had formed a tactical alliance with Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemeni President in 1990–2012, after he was deposed in the 2011 Yemeni revolution to which Houthis themselves had contributed. Houthis were also dissatisfied with the new Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi,a former military officer who had been appointed by the Gulf Cooperation Council, for various reasons. In particular, Hadi had refused to hand them a share in the new government.

The dissatisfaction turned into widespread protests when the Hadi government ordered the removal of fuel subsidies. Houthis organized mass protests and advanced into the capital, Sanaa, taking over government buildings but Hadi and his cabinet finally suddenly resigned leaving office in the hands of the Houthis.^[12] Soon afterwards, the Saudis led a military intervention in Yemen to combat the Houthis and fulfil Hadi's wishes to return to power.

From the takeover onwards, the Houthis and Saleh loyalist forces shared administration of Sanaa and the country. Pro-Saleh forces controlled southern Sanaa while the Houthis were in control of the northern part of the capital.^[13] The tactical alliance between Saleh, who was deposed in 2012, and the Houthis often appeared fragile, with both groups reserving suspicions as to each other's ultimate motives and sharing little ideological ground.^[14]

On 2 December 2017, four days after the eruption of armed conflict between the Houthis and forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, he announced his readiness to start a "new page" with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates,^[15] a move which was welcome by the two governments.^[7] On 4 December 2017, Saleh officially announced the end of his partnership with the Houthis while Saudi Arabia warplanes were bombing Houthi positions in Sana'a in support of Saleh. The conflict took at least 125 lives and injured 238.^[16] According to Ra'iy al-Youm, Saleh's split was an outcome of long-term efforts by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to unravel the Houthi-Saleh alliance after their failure to defeat the Houthis militarily.^[17]

It was reported on 4 December that the Bani Bahloul tribe gained control of posts of Houthi militias in southern Sanaa. The tribes of al Hima and Hamadan reportedly controlled other Houthi posts and arrested dozens of Houthi militants, according to Sky News. Also, supervisor of the Houthi militias Abu Mohsen al Qahoum was killed in clashes with General People's Congress (GPC) forces in Sha'oub district of Sanaa.^[18] Despite this, the battle turned increasingly against the Saleh loyalists, with GPC secretary general Aref al-Zouka being killed in combat. Many GPC members and Saleh fighters also defected to the Houthis.^[5]

On 5 December, tens of thousands of pro-Houthi demonstrators took to the streets in Sanaa. Almasirah, the official Ansar Allah website, reported that the rally was held to "thank God" for the failure of the revolt. The crowd, waving Yemen's national flag, chanted slogans such as "ours is a free revolution, we reject colonization.. through unity and resilience, we defeated the Jewish alliance", according to the website. The rally was reported to have been attended by a large number of women as well as members of GPC who stated that the plot was aimed at the entire people of Yemen without exception.^[24][25] The celebration has been broadly confirmed by other sources.^[26][27][28]

A large part of the GPC consequently pledged allegiance to the Houthis, and elected Sadeq Ameen Abu Rass as new chairman. Those GPC elements which stayed loyal to the Saleh family retreated into Hadi-controlled areas and began to rebuild their military strength to fight the Houthis.^[5]

• Battle of Sana'a (2011)
• Battle of Sana'a (2014)