美国有线新闻 CNN 也门政府军与胡塞武装冲突持续 国际航运受影响

也门政府军与胡塞武装冲突持续 国际航运受影响

First, today, we're going to the Middle East, for an update for the war-torn country of Yemen. It's located between Saudi Arabia and the Gulf 1 of Aden. Its location is important because Yemen also borders one of the world's most used shipping 2 lanes where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, and its ongoing 3 civil war, which flared 4 up in 2011, could have an impact on international shipping.

Ninety-nine percent of Yemen's 28 million people are Muslim, but there are religious divisions among them. Most Yemenis are Sunni Muslim, but just over a third are Shiite Muslim. And for years, a Shiite militant 5 group called the Houthis has been rebelling against the Yemeni government.

International officials believe the Houthis are supported by Iran, a predominantly Shiite Muslim country. The Yemeni government forces are supported by Saudi Arabia, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country. So, religious tensions in the region outside Yemen factor in, too.

The situation, especially for many civilians 7 is desperate but there's no end in sight.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yemen is in the midst of a civil war. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels unseated the internationally recognized government of President Abdrabbuh Hadi in 2015. The Houthi rebels initially 8 took control of the capital Sana'a and much of the rest of the country.

Saudi Arabia, through airstrikes, leads a coalition 9, including the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Sudan, supporting the government's ground offensives, who now claimed they hold 85 percent of the country's territory. However, Houthi rebels still control the capital Sana'a and the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeida.

The U.N. report says neither side is doing enough to prevent civilian 6 suffering. More than 13,000 civilian casualties are reported so far, with nearly 1/3 of Yemen's population close to starvation, and one million at risk of cholera 10. The value of the Yemeni rial is suffering. Fuel is in short supply and food is getting more expensive.

The U.N. report also accuses Iran of failing to stop direct or indirect supply of Iranian made ballistic missiles to the Houthi rebels who fired them at Saudi cities, including the capital Riyadh.

Houthi rebels are threatening international shipping in the Red Sea, warning they'll close the waterway through which 1/10 of the world's maritime 11 trade passes. The conflict is complex. Yemen has always been poor and has long relied on aid from its prosperous northern neighbor Saudi Arabia.

Hadi's government is battling not just Houthi rebels but al Qaeda or ISIS with American military help and faces a separate strong separatist movement in the south. For now, the government plans to continue its military offensive to pressure the Houthis to talks. The war is far from over.