Overview

• Yemen's main internet provider YemenNet, now controlled by the Houthi rebels, experienced a nationwide blackout that began early Friday.
• The internet outage impacted the majority of Yemen's population living in the west along the Red Sea, who depend on the undersea FALCON cable for connectivity.
• The unexplained blackout followed a series of recent drone and missile attacks by the Houthis on Israel and the U.S., including a claimed strike on the Israeli port city of Eilat and the downing of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.
• The conflict in Yemen, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized much of the country's north, has escalated into a regional proxy war involving Saudi ArabiaIran, causing the death of more than 150,000 people and one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
• Despite international criticism and resulting pull-back in support, the U.S. is suspected to continue carrying out drone strikes targeting suspected members of Yemen’s local al-Qaida branch.