Why is Saudi Arabia in Yemen and what does it mean for Britain?

In March 2015 a Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi rebels who had forced Yemen’s president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, into exile. This week’s visit to the UK by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has refocused attention on the conflict.
Why is Saudi Arabia attacking the Houthis?

Saudi Arabia regards the Houthis as Iranian proxies and intervened to check their advance. The Saudi air war is in support of forces loyal to Hadi, who aim to retake the capital, Sana’a, from the Houthis.
Have there been breaches of humanitarian law?

The Saudi-led coalition has been repeatedly accused by rights groups of unlawful airstrikes on civilian targets, some of which, they say, may amount to war crimes. Riyadh insists it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties, though a UN panel of experts that reviewed 10 Saudi airstrikes reported in January that “even if the Saudi Arabia-led coalition had targeted legitimate military objectives … it is highly unlikely that the principles of international humanitarian law of proportionality and precautions in attack were respected”.

The panel found Saudi denials of involvement in these specific airstrikes were implausible, and individuals responsible for planning, authorising or executing the strikes would meet the standard for the imposition of UN sanctions.

Source: theguardian