• World
  • Yemen

Yemen’s Tumultuous History in 12 Pictures

1 minute read

Yemen’s embattled President Abdel-Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned Thursday after failing to reach a power-sharing agreement with Shi’ite rebels who have held Sana’a, the capital, since September.

Hadi’s departure leaves Yemen’s fate in the balance. The poorest nation in the Arab world is fractured by tribal fighting, a separatist movement in the south, a robust Al-Qaeda presence, and the rising influence of the Shi’ite rebel group known as the Houthis.

But Yemen is no stranger to turmoil. In the images above, TIME looks at key moments in the country’s past that provide a historical context for the unfolding unrest.

Civil War In Yemen In 1962
In 1962, a coup ousted the monarchy ruling North Yemen and spawned a devastating civil war between the newly established Yemen Arab Republic and royalist forces. The conflict, which drew Egypt in on the side of the republicans against the Saudi-backed royalists, lasted through the end of the decadeGery Gerard—Paris Match/Getty Images
An insurgency known as the “Aden Emergency” emerges after a grenade is thrown at a group of British military officers in a part of southern Yemen, which was still a British protectorate.
As conflict raged in the north, leftist groups in the south began to push for independence from Britain, which had controlled the port city of Aden and its surroundings since the mid-19th century. A grenade attack on British officers in December 1963 marked the beginning of an insurgency against the British known as the Aden EmergencyTerry Fincher—Getty Images
Yemen Aden British Troop Withdrawal
Under siege from pro-independence groups, the British agreed to a transfer of power and withdrew in 1967, paving the way for the communist-run People’s Republic of South YemenAP
Ali Abdullah Saleh;Ali Salem Al Baidh
North and South Yemen finally overcame internal turmoil and occasional border clashes to agree on a unity deal in 1989. The merger the following year established the Republic of Yemen under the North’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh (right), who would remain in power until 2012 .Thomas Hartwell—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Fights Between North And South Yemen In Yemen On May 17, 1994.
Peace between both sides would not hold. In 1993, Vice President al-Bayd left Sana’a for Aden in the south, and by the following year the two sides’ armed forces, which had yet to be merged, were at war. The North eventually defeated southern forces, restoring calm after months of violence that left thousands deadLaurent Van Der Stockt—Getty Images
Al-Qaeda-linked militants bomb the U.S.S. Cole in the port of Aden, killing 17 sailors. A government crackdown on al-Qaeda cells that year would fuel a war between the government and Sunni extremists that would intensify after Saleh’s ouster.
A suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen killed 17 U.S. sailors on Oct. 12, 2000, and was claimed by Al-Qaeda. Despite President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s pledge to support America's fight on terrorism, the group would eventually gain a strong foothold in the country. Today, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is one of the terror network's most powerful affiliates and controls swathes of territory in southern YemenU.S. Navy—Getty Images
Protesters march during an anti-government demonstration in Radfan, a district in the southern Yemeni province of Lahej
Large-scale anti-government protests broke out in Jan. 2011 across the country in the wake of the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, eventually prompting President Ali Abdullah Saleh to declare that he would not run for reelection in 2013Reuters
Government forces fire on protesters, killing 52 and escalating violence.
Snowballing demonstrations turned deadly on March 18, 2011 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on protesters, killing roughly 50 people. President Ali Abdullah Saleh, denying the attackers were government forces, declared a state of emergency, heralding a new, more violent phase in the protests that devolved at times into tribal clashesMuhammed Muheisen—AP
A blast at the presidential compound badly burns President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Saleh travels to Saudi Arabia for treatment, but ultimately returns to his post.
An explosion at the presidential palace on June 3, 2011, badly burned President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who left for Saudi Arabia for treatment but, to the dismay of opposition activists, returned to Sana'a in September Muhammed Muheisen—AP
After agreeing to an internationally brokered deal to transfer power to his vice president, Saleh resigns and hands power to Abd-Rabbu Mansur al-Hadi.
The embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned on Feb. 27, 2012, after agreeing to an internationally-brokered deal to transition power to his deputy Abd-Rabbo Mansour HadiHani Mohammed—AP
The Houthis, an insurgency comprising members of the Shi’ite Zaidi minority, take control of Sana’a after years of clashes with government forces in the north.
The Houthis, an insurgency comprising members of the Shi’ite Zaidi minority, took control of Sana'a on Sept. 21, 2014, after years of clashes with government forces in the north. The group, which allowed President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi to remain at his post, gained wider traction as self-proclaimed reformers, capitalizing on dissatisfaction with the poor economic and security situations under Hadi’s U.S.-backed governmentMohammed Hamoud—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Hadi submits his resignation as power-sharing negotiations with the Houthis crumble.
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi submitted his resignation on Jan. 22 after negotiations on a power-sharing agreement with the Houthis appeared to fall through, leaving the fate of the country unclearEPA

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com