The crisis between the government and Sheikh Hussein Badr Al-Din Al-Houthi has been accelerating and increasing in terms of human and property losses. The war, however, has taken on a new appearance, as Al-Houthi's followers have begun to conduct guerrilla raids and have adopted war of attrition techniques. Military commanders, who declared the end of military operations three weeks ago, did not anticipate such tactics and said Al-Houthi's insurgency was dying.

During the past two days, the clashes between regiments from different army divisions and Al-Houthi's followers, resulted in the deaths of 30 people, 11 of whom were troops - including a colonel killed in an ambush.

The circle of military clashes has widened, reaching the Al-Buq'a area near the Yemeni-Saudi border. Ten kilometers from Maran, fighting is still intensive in the areas of Al-Ruzamat, Al-Hamazat, Nashoor, Shafi'ah, and Hamdan bin Zaid.

Al-Tajamou Weekly mentioned on August 23rd that some 47 dead and 39 wounded soldiers had brought to Sana'a on August 22nd. Al-Wahdawi Weekly, for its part, said on August 24th that 120 dead were found in the mountains and in the fortifications restored by the army, after the attack carried out on August 23rd, adding: "Al-Houthi's Second-in-Command was killed in this attack along with three other leaders in the latest clashes." Yet the same newspaper also reported that Al-Houthi's followers claimed to have regained the areas earlier declared to be under army control.

Media have no access to information about human and material losses. Yet the thousands of dead and wounded rushed to hospitals in Sa'ada, Hajah and Sana'a reveal their scale. Al-Wahdawi quoted Yahya Badr Al-Din, Member of Parliament and brother to Hussein Al-Houthi as saying: "My brother was never the political leader of an organization that violates law. What will the government gain from killing him?" He added that the government should follow the example of Iraq, where Moqtada Al-Sadr was offered the chance to participate in the political arena.

A report released this month Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a private organization based in the United States, predicted that between 2004 and 2050 the population of developed countries would rise by only 4% reaching 1.2 billion, while the population of developing countries will soar by 55% to more than eight billion. The report states that nearly 99% of the world's population increase takes place in poor countries, while population is static or declining in the developed world. According to PRB, the population of Yemen, now estimated at around 20 million would number more than 71 million by 2050 - an increase of 255%, one of the highest in the world.

Yemen must face the problem that its economy is growing more slowly than its population. Population grows by about 4% per year. According to the World Bank, Yemen's GDP increased by 3.9% in 2003 and is expected to grow by only 3.5% this year. Forty-two percent of Yemenis live below the poverty line, while a further 25% are only just above it. Nearly 40% are unemployed.

The young generation would be hit hardest. Over 50% of Yemenis are under the age of 15. With employment opportunities looking bleak in the future, they will find it difficult to get jobs. Yemen will also have to figure out how to provide water for a fast growing population. Naji Abu Hatim, Senior Rural Development Specialist at The World Bank said that Yemen is extracting around three billion cubic meters of water annually, but water resources are replenished by only two billion cubic meters each year. Water availability in the Sana'a area is nearing crisis point. "It is estimated that the Sana'a water basin will be completely dry in three or four decades," said Abu Hatim.

The World Bank believes that one of the best ways to slow down population growth is to let more Yemeni girls go to school. Its research proves that when more girls get a full education, the population growth rate declines. Robert Hindle, representative of the World Bank in Yemen, said: "Educating girls is the best thing you can do to reduce childbearing and increase family income over time. This is true around the world." He thinks that poor developing countries should try to get every girl through secondary school and high school. The World Bank has calculated that only 39% of school-age girls in Yemen are enrolled in primary school, where they get a basic education. Hindle warned:: "Poverty breeds terrorism. It's important for the Yemeni government to tackle the poverty issue."

According to a recent US State Department report, 67.5% of women in Yemen were illiterate in 2002. The Minister of Education, Abdusalam Al-Joufi, said that over 600 new schools for basic education had been opened across the country in the first five months of 2004, focusing heavily on providing classrooms for girls.

Since the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, Yemeni security forces have rounded up hundreds of suspects, including key Al-Qaeda members. Currently on trial are six suspects allegedly involved in the bombing of the USS Cole in the port of Aden in 2000 and 15 others believed to have taken part in the attack on the French tanker Limburg in 2002.

For over two months, Yemeni forces have been fighting an armed rebel group in northern Yemen If there is no serious effort to slow down population growth, strengthen the economy, create more jobs and reduce poverty, it will become easier for rebel groups to recruit followers and Yemen will undergo periods of instability, conflict and lawlessness. It may become a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism.