Qualla: Battle of Sanaa (2017) https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Sanaa (2017) https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017 Battle of Sanaa (2017): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem, Holland, CC BY-SA 2.0. Ali Abdullah Saleh had ruled Yemen for 33 years. On 2 December 2017 he went on television in Sanaa and announced he was willing to turn a 'new page' with Saudi Arabia. Two days later he was dead on a road out of the capital, shot by the same Houthi forces he had allied with to take the city in 2014. Between those two events the Yemeni capital became a battlefield. More than 230 people were killed in six days of street-to-street fighting between Saleh's General People's Congress loyalists and the Houthi movement that had, until that week, been his partner.

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Image: Ferdinand Reus from Arnhem, Holland | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Sanaa (2017): An Alliance of Convenience https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Mr. Ibrahem, CC BY-SA 4.0. Saleh had been pushed out of power by the 2011 Yemeni revolution he had ruled over since 1990. The Houthis - officially Ansar Allah, a Zaydi Shia movement from the country's north - had helped topple him. In 2014 they became strange allies: the former president, who still command...

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Image: Mr. Ibrahem | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-an-alliance-of-convenience.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Sanaa (2017): The Break https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Mr. Ibrahem, CC BY-SA 4.0. The coalition, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, had spent two years trying to split the alliance. By late November 2017 it had worked. Tension between Saleh's GPC and the Houthis spilled into armed clashes at the Saleh Mosque on 29 November. On 2 December Saleh made his tel...

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Image: Mr. Ibrahem | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-the-break.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Sanaa (2017): Civilians Between https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Mr. Ibrahem, CC BY-SA 4.0. The death toll in those six days exceeded 230 according to UN figures cited by Canadian television CP24. Among the dead were hundreds of fighters on both sides; many more were civilians caught in crossfire in a city of more than two million people. The International Committee of ...

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Image: Mr. Ibrahem | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-civilians-between.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Sanaa (2017): The Road to Sanhan https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Mr. Ibrahem, CC BY-SA 4.0. On 4 December Abu Mohsen al-Qahoum, supervisor of Houthi militias in Sha'oub district, was killed. So was GPC secretary general Aref al-Zouka. The fighting turned against the Saleh forces quickly. Many GPC fighters and politicians defected to the Houthis rather than fight them. S...

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Image: Mr. Ibrahem | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-the-road-to-sanhan.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Sanaa (2017): After https://qualla.com/battle-of-sanaa-2017/ Photo credit Mr. Ibrahem, CC BY-SA 4.0. On 5 December the fighting stopped. Tens of thousands of pro-Houthi demonstrators filled Sanaa's streets. Saudi-led airstrikes intensified on the city; residents were told to stay indoors. The GPC splintered. A large faction pledged allegiance to the Houthis and elected Sadeq Ame...

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]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/x/r/battle-of-sanaa-2017-wp/sfxr-battle-of-sanaa-2017-after.mp3 0:06 6 full