Yemen on 'the edge of civil war,' says U.N. envoy

A United Nations envoy for Yemen on Sunday warned an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that prolonged fighting brought the nation "to the edge of civil war." Pushing for a peaceful resolution, the envoy, Jamal Benomar, cautioned that if either side sought a resolution by force they "would be inviting a protracted conflict in the vein of an Iraq-Libya-Syria combined scenario."

Over the weekend, the U.S. evacuated its remaining special forces from Yemen, one month after it closed its embassy there. Yemen has been in a state of unrest since last fall, when the Houthi militia took control of the capital Sanaa and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee.—Jon Terbush

Iframe Code

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

View image | gettyimages.com