YEMEN IS A country wracked by years of civil war.

The death toll is now north of 155,000. Famine has consistently loomed, and more than 23 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

But this war is often far from the focus of the media – until recent weeks, at least.

The Houthis, a rebel faction in Yemen who seized control of swathes of the country, have now launched attacks on international shipping vessels in the Rea Sea.

It’s in response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza, and the disruption to trade has caught the attention of the West, with the US and UK launching missile strikes on the rebels.

This week on The Explainer, we’re looking at everything about Yemen that might have flown under the radar in recent years with Dr Elisabeth Kendall, the Mistress of Girton College at Cambridge University and an Arabist and middle east specialist.

Who are the Houthis? What do they want? Why did the UK and the US act together against them? How has the world barely noticed the war in Yemen? How did it last for so long?

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/why-did-the-us-and-the-uk-start-bombing-yemen-and-who-are-the-houthis

This episode was put together by presenter Sinéad O’Carroll and senior producer Nicky Ryan.