For Mohammed Abdul Malik, the powerful explosions that have hit Yemen’s southern city of Aden repeatedly over the past month are an ominous warning of darker days ahead. Yemen’s Houthis have claimed attacks against several locations in Aden, including the international airport, military camps, the city’s port, and the presidential palace – which serves as a base for Yemen’s government. Fearing that the city could once again descend into widespread violence, Abdul Malik has begun taking precautions.
He has stockpiled food and prepared his car for a long journey if he needs to leave. If the security situation deteriorates further and state institutions collapse, his Plan B is to flee Aden with his family and seek refuge in Shabwa, to the northeast, or Hadramout, to the east. I’ve prepared my car, checked it over, and set aside an emergency supply of fuel.
I’m ready to pack up my family and head out at a moment’s notice,” he said. After four years of relative calm, Yemen’s war has reignited in recent months, particularly since early September, when the Houthis launched a major offensive to seize government-held areas in the west of the country from the Saudi-backed, pro-government National Resistance Forces (NRF). Within a week, the Iran-backed armed group – also known as Ansar Allah, Arabic for Supporters of God – had seized districts in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces, including the port city of Mocha, a stronghold of the NRF, and the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.
A government counteroffensive launched in early October has made limited gains along the Red Sea coast, but at the same time the Houthis have tightened their siege of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, after capturing a vital road linking it to Aden. Aden had remained relatively peaceful despite the fierce fighting elsewhere, and had become a refuge for thousands of people displaced by the conflict. The wave of Houthi missile and drone attacks this month has shattered that calm, and has raised fears that the Houthis may be seeking to capture Aden.
Accounts from friends who fled Taiz, where fighting and the siege have driven up prices and disrupted supplies, have deepened his concerns about what could happen to his city. If the [Aden] port were to be struck, prices would skyrocket,” he said. Abdul Malik described how the Houthi attacks have disrupted daily life in Aden, with some families limiting their movements – especially at night.
We go to work and take our children to school, but there is a sense of anxiety and tension,” he told Al Jazeera. Aden international airport, currently Yemen’s busiest airport, has borne the brunt of the Houthi missile and drone attacks, which have repeatedly disrupted air travel, forcing airlines to cancel or delay flights and divert others to airports elsewhere in Yemen or abroad. For residents living near the airport, the repeated strikes and explosions have taken a psychological toll on families, prompting some to consider moving to safer areas inside and outside Aden.
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