This dyad belongs to the conflict South Yemen - Yemen (North Yemen)
Summary of conflict South Yemen - Yemen (North Yemen)
Following the independence of South Yemen in 1967, the idea of a single Yemeni nation gathered steam. In 1970, North Yemen and South Yemen agreed to take the first steps towards unification. However, little progress was made and the strained relations escalated into short border conflicts in 1972 and in 1979. Both conflicts were terminated the through peace agreements which called for unification. Eventually, the two countries peacefully merged into the Republic of Yemen in 1990.
Background to the conflict
In 1918, North Yemen became independent following the departure of the Ottomans and Imam Yahya Mahmud al-Mutawwakil seized power. His authoritarian theocratic rule caused widespread dissatisfaction among the population and in 1948, he was assassinated. After a short intrastate conflict, one of the late Imam’s sons seized power. The Imamate was eventually overthrown in 1962 through a military-led coup and the country was renamed Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). Shorty after the coup, fighting erupted between the Government and Royalists, whom supported the ousted Imam. The initially intense intrastate armed conflict lasted until 1970 and involved Egyptian troops fighting alongside the republicans (for more information see Yemen (North Yemen): Government).
South Yemen, on the other hand, did not gain independence from Great Britain until 1967 after three years of extrastate armed conflict between the British troops and the pro-independence movements NLF (National Liberation Front) and FLOSY (Front for the Liberation of Southern Yemen). As a result of the conflict, the British rulers transferred the power to the most powerful of the groups, the NLF, and granted independence to South Yemen in 1967.
In the beginning of the 1970s, North Yemen drifted more and more to the political right and strengthened its relations to Saudi Arabia. The newly independent South Yemen, however, adopted a leftist stand and strengthened its ties with the Soviet Union. At the same time, in November 1970, leaders of North Yemen and South Yemen met and agreed to start taking the first steps towards forming a federation. However, in December 1970, South Yemen changed its name to PDRY (People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen). The removal of “Southern” from its name brought protests from North Yemen, which interpreted this as a sign of unwillingness from South Yemen to unite.
At this time, North Yemen had a three times greater population than South Yemen (6 million compared to less than 2 million). The North Yemeni President Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani, confident that the demographic differences would assure North Yemen dominance, continued to push for a unification of the two countries. In November 1971, al-Iryani pressed the South Yemeni leadership to agree to an immediate unification and thereby cede, in practice, all of its political power.
Border conflict between North Yemen and South Yemen in 1972
The relations between the two countries worsened in the early 1970s and fighting eventually erupted along the joint border. The first clashes took place on 21 February 1972 and further clashes took place in May and September the same year. The reports about what happened in the border region in 1972 diverge to a large extent, with both countries accusing the other of aggression. South Yemen claimed that an attack by about 2000 North Yemeni mercenaries had been repelled on 21 February in the Baihan border area. 65 of these were claimed to have been killed, among them Sheikh Ali ben Naji al Ghadir, the chief of the powerful Khaulan tribe and prominent royalist member. North Yemen rejected these claims and stated that the Sheikh and more than 60 of his supporters had been invited to South Yemen and subsequently murdered by South Yemeni troops.
Both countries accused each other of massing troops along the common border and of conducting attacks across the border. Furthermore clashes took place in May and September. A ceasefire was established in October after the mediation by the Arab League, and in November, an agreement stipulating a future unification of the two countries was signed.
Following the border clashes in 1972, relations between the two countries were relatively stable for some years but deteriorated towards the end of the 1970s. In 1977, the North Yemeni President Al-Hamdi was assassinated and was succeeded the same year by al-Ghashmi. On 24 June 1978, less than a year later, al-Ghashmi was also assassinated. This time, North Yemen blamed South Yemen for the murder. It was widely reported that the assassin was from South Yemen. Furthermore, two days after al-Ghashmi had been killed, the internal divisions in South Yemen led to the execution of the ruling Salim Rubay Ali. He was in turn succeeded by Abd al-Fattah Ismail who represented a strongly pro-Soviet, and less pro-unification, faction than Ali.
Renewed border conflict between North Yemen and South Yemen in 1979
Following the assassination of the North Yemeni President al-Ghashmi on 24 June 1978, which was blamed on South Yemen, the relations between the two countries deteriorated rapidly. Shortly afterwards, the South Yemeni President Salim Rubay Ali was also killed, following internal clashes between different factions competing for power in South Yemen. The situation was further aggravated when the new President in North Yemen, Ali Abdallah Salih, in connection to swearing the constitutional oath on 18 July 1978, stated that he and his nation believed in the unity of the Yemeni people and that he would “not hesitate to exert every effort to achieve this patriotic aspiration, no matter what acts of terrorism and meanness the authorities dominating our people in the southern part of the country may employ”.
The second half of 1978 was characterised by accusations and counter-accusations of border intrusions and aggressions between the two countries. The relations were further strained in October 1978, following a failed coup attempt against the North Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih. South Yemen was accused of having been involved, although this was never proven. Due to limited information about these clashes; it was not possible to code any battle-related deaths for 1978, although it is likely that at least some of the clashes had fatal outcomes.
The reports about unrest and aggressions along the joint border continued in early 1979. On 24 February 1979, fighting between the neighbouring countries escalated drastically. North Yemen accused South Yemen of having launched an invasion into its territory. South Yemen, on the other hand, claimed that it had repelled an attack by North Yemeni forces and subsequently had captured two border towns in North Yemen. At the same time, a North Yemeni anti-government group named NDF (National Democratic Front), which was supported by South Yemen, launched attacks against North Yemen (for more information see Yemen - intrastate conflict). The information on which troops were fighting where is divergent, and South Yemen sometimes claimed that it was NDF that were fighting the North Yemeni forces rather than their own regular forces. According to South Yemen, NDF had captured the border town of Qataba on 24 February. NDF supported this claim and also stated that it had taken other towns such as Al Bayda and Harib. North Yemen rejected these claims and denied NDF’s existence.
In response to the escalation, North Yemen asked the USA for arms and called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League. Saudi Arabia, a strong supporter of North Yemen, put its forces on high alert on 28 February, but refrained from intervening. On the same day, the USA promised to speed up the already pledged weapons delivery. However, the weapons seem to have failed to reach North Yemen before the end of the fighting. South Yemen, on the other hand, received troop support from Ethiopia. According to African Contemporary Records, the 3500 soldiers that Ethiopia sent to assist South Yemen during the border conflict were in response to corresponding support given to them by South Yemen in 1977 (for more information see the interstate conflict between Ethiopia-Somalia over Ogaden). Besides the troop support, South Yemen also continued to receive weapons from the Soviet Union. Furthermore, there were unconfirmed reports about support from Cuba and East Germany in the form of military advisers.
On 2 March 1979, the mediation efforts by Syria, Iraq and Jordan succeeded in negotiating a ceasefire agreement between the two countries that would enter into effect the following day. Despite this, clashes continued. On 6 March, the Arab League proposed a peace plan that included troop withdrawal, an immediate ceasefire and the restoration of normal relations. This plan was also accepted by both countries, however, the fighting nevertheless continued for two more weeks.
The fighting, which was estimated to have claimed about 150 lives, was eventually brought to an end on 16 March, following a meeting between the Chiefs of Staff from both countries. A ceasefire was again agreed upon, and three days later, both countries had withdrawn all of their troops. The Presidents of both North Yemen and South Yemen (Salih and Ismail) met in Kuwait on 28 March. Two days later, on 30 March, a peace agreement was reached. The agreement, which renewed the call for unification which had been made in the 1972 peace agreement, stipulated that the new state was to be named the People’s Republic of Yemen. The North Yemeni capital, Sanaa, would become the new capital for the unified state and President Saleh (North Yemen) would become president. Furthermore, a single constitution would be adopted through a referendum and a provisional government would be formed before free and direct elections could be held.
Following this agreement, the relations improved and the ceasefire continued to hold. However, even though several meetings were held in the following months, little progress was made on the unification of the two countries.
The creation of the Republic of Yemen in 1990
After a period of border clashes in 1972, North Yemen and South Yemen agreed to take the first steps towards establishing a unified Yemen. Little progress was made in the following years and eventually in 1979, the strained relations between the two countries escalated into a short border conflict. On 30 March, North Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh and South Yemeni President Abdul Fattah Ismail terminated the conflict through the signing of an agreement which renewed the call for unification (for more detailed information see previous sections). The process was slow and once again little progress was made. The relations eventually improved in 1982, following the end of the intrastate conflict in North Yemen in which the opposition group NDF (National Democratic Front) received support from South Yemen (for more information see Yemen (North Yemen): Government). However, following a short intrastate conflict involving YSP - AFI in South Yemen in 1986, the tensions became strained once again (for more information see South Yemen: Government).
In 1988, steps were taken to restart the unification process. This time the process moved rapidly forward, partly due to declining Soviet support to South Yemen. The process was peacefully completed on 22 May 1990 when the [Arab Republic of Yemen (North Yemen) merged with the Peoples Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) and the Republic of Yemen was formed. The Parliaments of North and South Yemen elected Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of North Yemen since 1978 as President of the unified Yemen, and Ali Salim al-Beidh, formerly leader of South Yemen, as Vice-President. The former capital of North Yemen, Sanaa, was named capital of the Republic of Yemen.
