The Yemen War of 1979 is a short-term military conflict between North and South Yemen [1] . The war was the result of tensions between the two countries after the presidents of both states were overthrown as a result of coups. The hostility of the rhetoric of the new leadership of both countries escalated, which led to small-scale border battles, which then, in turn, escalated into a full-scale war in February 1979 . North Yemen was on the verge of defeat after a large-scale invasion of the forces of South Yemen [2] , but this was prevented by the conclusion of the 1979 Kuwait Agreement, which resulted in the deployment of forces of the League of Arab States on the border of two states . An agreement was also signed on the unification of both countries, although it was not implemented [3] .
| Yemen war | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 North Yemen and South Yemen (PDRY) | |||
| date of | February 24 - March 19, 1979 | ||
| A place | border between Yemen and PDRY | ||
| Total | Kuwait Agreement Restoring the Status Quo | ||
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Conflict
According to the government of North Yemen, the Marxist government of South Yemen ( PDRY ) assisted the rebels in the north through the National Democratic Front and violated the border of the two states more than once [4] .
On February 28, troops of North and South Yemen began a skirmish across the border [3] . The forces of North Yemen, led by some radical army officers, crossed the border and attacked a number of villages in the NDRY [3] . NDRY, with the support of the USSR , Cuba and East Germany , responded by invading the northern territories, using 3 regular divisions and a tactical regiment of the Air Force [3] . The PDRY also supported the National Democratic Front (NDF) [5] , which was in the midst of an uprising against the government of North Yemen. Within 3 days after the invasion, the numerically smaller South Yemeni forces established complete superiority over the theater of operations, thereby forcing the ground forces of North Yemen to rapidly retreat.
The attack of South Yemen had the advantage of surprise and was carried out by special forces, which were able to effectively suppress enemy air defense systems and radars, thus allowing their air forces to establish air superiority for several days. After the initial Air Force attack, the South Yemeni armored division, consisting of T-55 and T-62 tanks, led a ground attack on the Yemeni armored division located near the city of Taiz. Soon after, the South Yemeni Air Force destroyed several North Yemen fighters and MiG-21 helicopters, as well as helicopters at airfields and air bases, thereby preventing the possibility of an air counterattack by the enemy. The war dragged on for almost a month, and North Yemen was unable to send units from Sana'a to Taiz because of the constant air strikes of the NDRS, which hit army convoys on complex and winding mountain roads north of Dhamar. Although the forces of the northerners far outnumbered the southerners, they were locked up in the war zone in the Taiz and Dhale regions, and one Yemeni division had to repel the attacks of three enemy divisions without any reinforcements or air support. On March 8, the South Yemeni Air Force was able to launch an attack on the city of Sanaa by three Su-22 bombers from five MiG-21 fighters, dropping 500-pound bombs to the mechanized infantry base and firing at the courthouse and central prison and causing massive panic among civilians. Air defense of northerners ( SA-3 ) managed to bring down two enemy bombers and captivate their pilots. As a result, by the end of three weeks of fighting, the northern forces were on the verge of exhaustion, while the southern forces captured significant territories north of the border and blocked the cities of Taiz and Al-Baida. In such a situation, Saudi Arabia and the United States came to the aid of the northerners. Recalling the alleged NDRM aggression supported by the Soviet Union against North Yemen and the threat this could have created for the US ally, Saudi Arabia, the Americans have significantly stepped up military assistance to the North Yemen government [5] .
As part of US military assistance, they sent 12 F-5E aircraft to the government of North Yemen. However, the pilots of the northerners were not prepared to pilot these aircraft, and the United States and Saudi Arabia agreed that 80 Taiwanese pilots plus ground crew and Iraqi air defense units would be sent to North Yemen [6] . The US Navy's task force also advanced into the Arabian Sea in response to escalating violence. [3] The war showed weak training for graduates of North Yemeni military schools and a backwardness in armaments, and soon the allies of North Yemen began an armament and training program for the army of the northerners so that it could restore strategic balance and parity against the superior trained forces of the People’s Democratic People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. The allies of North Yemen, led by Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, provided military assistance, equipment and instructors to compensate for the deficit caused by the loss of northerners in the war, and by 1983-1984, Northern Yemen regained its army [7] [8] .
1979 Kuwait Agreement
On March 20, leaders in North and South Yemen signed a bilateral ceasefire in Kuwait at a reconciliation summit, in part due to pressure from Iraq. [2] These negotiations were supported by the League of Arab States. In accordance with the Kuwait Agreement, both parties reaffirmed their commitment to the process of unification of Yemen, as set out in the Cairo Agreement of 1972. This unification agreement was the result of pressure from Iraq, Syria and Kuwait, who advocated a united Arab world to best respond to the problems that arose after the Camp David accords, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution. Over the next two months, the parties exchanged prisoners of war, over the next two years, work continued on a draft constitution for a single Yemen, but most attempts to implement the terms of the Kuwait Agreement were unsuccessful until 1982 [9] .
Notes
- ↑ Burrowes, Robert, Middle East dilemma: the politics and economics of Arab integration , Columbia University Press, 1999, pages 187 to 210
- ↑ 1 2 Burrowes, Robert D. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. - Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 .-- P. 190.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Kohn, George C .. Dictionary of Wars, Infobase Publishing, S. 615.
- ↑ Hermann, Richard, Perceptions and behavior in Soviet foreign policy , University of Pittsburgh Pre, 1985, page 152
- ↑ 1 2 Burrowes, Robert D. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. - Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 .-- P. XXXII Chronology.
- ↑ 'Never' a wake-up call , Taipei Times (May 15, 2010).
- ↑ Hoagland, Edward, Balancing Acts , Globe Pequot, 1999, page 218
- ↑ Interview with Al-Hamdani Middle East Research and Information Reports, February 1985
- ↑ Burrowes, Robert D. Historical Dictionary of Yemen. - Rowman & Littlefield, 2010 .-- P. 219.