Saudi coalition launches Operation Decisive Storm, internationalizing Yemen civil war

Saudi Arabia leads a nine-country coalition — including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco — launching airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen on March 26, 2015. The operation begins predawn with strikes on military targets in Sanaa and Houthi strongholds in Amran governorate. The Obama administration supports the intervention, establishing a joint planning cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military intelligence and logistics. The US also approves arms sales to coalition members throughout the war. The Saudi-led coalition's intervention creates the sustained armed conflict — and the mass civilian casualties, famine, and infrastructure destruction — that underlie every subsequent US humanitarian protection decision for Yemeni nationals over the next decade.