The violence in Yemen has escalated in the wake of the Saudi-led air strikes over the past two years against the northern Houthi rebels. High civilian casualties have marked this campaign, with a March 2017 strike against a market, for example, killing 20 civilians along with 6 rebels. The Houthis too have targeted civilian populations. The total civilian deaths since Saudi Arabia and its 10 coalition partners, backed by the U.S., began their air campaign, according to U.N. estimates, have reached over 10,000 with another 3 million people, or 11% of the total population, internally displaced. The crisis is worsened by a Saudi blockade of the country, resulting in medical shortages and an increasingly worsening famine threatening 17 million people.
