The First Yemenite War was a short military
conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
between the
Yemen Arab Republic
The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the northwestern part of what is now Yemen.The United States extend ...
(YAR; North Yemen) and the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...
(PDRY; South Yemen).
[Gause, Gregory]
Saudi-Yemeni relations: domestic structures and foreign influence
Columbia University Press, 1990, page 98
Background
South Arabian League (SAL) rebels attacked positions in eastern South Yemen, arriving from Saudi Arabia on February 20, 1972.
The rebels were defeated by South Yemen government troops on February 24, 1972, with some 175 rebels killed during the military hostilities.
[ Prime Minister ]Ali Nasir Muhammad
Ali Nasir Muhammad Al-Husani ( ar, علي ناصر محمد الحسني; born 31 December 1939, in Mudiyah, Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen) is the former leader of South Yemen serving as General Secretary of the Yemeni Socialist Party between 198 ...
survived an assassination attempt by SAL rebels on May 22, 1972.[ Six persons were sentenced to death for plotting to overthrow the government on July 9, 1972.][ Saudi Arabia continued to oppose South Yemen and supported the Northern Yemeni troops in the upcoming struggle.
]
Conflict
The war, initiated by North Yemen, started on 26 September 1972, the tenth anniversary of the start of the North Yemen Civil War
The North Yemen Civil War ( ar, ثورة 26 سبتمبر, Thawra 26 Sabtambar, 26 September Revolution) was fought in North Yemen from 1962 to 1970 between partisans of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom and supporters of the Yemen Arab Republic. The ...
. A force composed of members of different political groups and exiled tribesmen from South Yemen, equipped with Alvis Saladin
The FV601 Saladin is a six-wheeled armoured car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis. Designed in 1954, it replaced the AEC Armoured Car in service with the British Army from 1958 onward. The vehicle weighed 11 tonnes, o ...
armoured cars provided by Libya and artillery donated by the North Yemeni military, invaded South Yemen in the Qatabah area. In response, the South Yemenis brought several of their battalions to the area of the border with the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen). The South Yemeni air force (PDRYAF) also started bombing the areas invaded by the Northerners, and their military positions. Over the course of one such mission, on 30 September, a PDRYAF MiG-17
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...
fighter was shot down and its pilot killed. In the end, South Yemeni counterattacks supported by air strikes caused over 200 casualties to the invaders, and recovered all of the lost territory. Overall, during the short war, the Southern military demonstrated its capability to run well-planned operations. Its logistics system proved adequate, and the air force's actions in ground-attack and supply missions were deemed effective. During the conflict, the Yemen Arab Republic (North) was supplied by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South) by the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
Aftermath
Cairo Agreement of 1972
The fighting was short-lived; the war ended 23 days later, on 19 October, by a ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
. This was followed by the Cairo Agreement of 28 October, which put forward a plan to unify the two countries in a "republican, national and democratic" state, based on "free and direct" elections.
Hostilities in late 1970s
South Yemen instigated and funded a broad-based opposition movement in the north, the National Democratic Front (NDF), during the mid-1970s.
See also
*NDF Rebellion
The NDF Rebellion was an uprising in the Yemen Arab Republic by the National Democratic Front, under Yahya Shami, between 1978 and 1982.
History 1978 start
The rebellion began in 1978, following the death of Ahmad al-Ghashmi and the rise to ...
*Yemenite War of 1979
The Second Yemenite War was a short military conflict between the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY; South Yemen). The war developed out of a breakdown in relations between the two countr ...
*Modern history of Yemen
The modern history of Yemen began with the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1839 the British set up a protective area around the southern port of Aden and in 1918 the northern Kingdom of Yemen gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. Nor ...
*List of wars involving Yemen
This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Yemen and its predecessor states.
North Yemen
South Yemen
Unified Yemen
References
{{Asia topic, List of wars involving, title=Lists of wars involving Asian countries
Yemen
Wars
...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yemenite War Of 1972
1972 in Yemen
Conflicts in 1972
Wars involving Yemen
South Yemen
Proxy wars
September 1972 events in Asia
October 1972 events in Asia