The following is a timeline of the 2011 Yemeni revolution from January to 2 June 2011. The Yemeni revolution was a series of major protests, political tensions, and armed clashes taking place in Yemen, which began in January 2011, influenced by concurrent protests in the region. Hundreds of protesters, members of armed groups, army soldiers and security personnel were killed, and many more injured, in the largest protests to take place in the South Arabian country for decades.
This section of the timeline includes the inception of the protest movement in January 2011 and its growth into a full-fledged uprising over the next several months, with the opposition occupying parts of the capital of Sanaa and Taiz in protest against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and in solidarity with Egyptian protesters. By the end of May and the beginning of June, attempts by the regional Gulf Co-operation Council to mediate an end to the crisis had broken down, and tribal fighters clashed openly with government security forces in the streets of Sanaa, bringing the country to the brink of a civil war.
Timeline
January
Mid-January Thousands of Yemenis protested in Sanaa's streets since mid-January 2011 to demand a change in government, though the protests in the south of the country were more aggressive. The protests "appeared to be the first large-scale challenge" to Saleh's rule; protesters compared him to the ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, citing government corruption and the poor economy of Yemen. Protests occurred in multiple towns in both the north and south of Yemen initially against Yemeni governmental proposals to modify Yemen's constitution, rejecting the proposals as insufficient, and over unemployment and economic conditions. Protests on 20 January included thousands of protestors in Taiz. Protests in Aden took place on 18, 19 and 20 January. In Aden, car tires were burned, roads were blocked and at least seven people – both soldiers and protestors, were injured. Protests in Sanaa appeared to be weakening . Two of the protests occurred at Sanaa University, with a slogan "Leave before you are forced to leave", which Reuters interpreted as a criticism of "autocratic Arab leaders, including Saleh."
27 January At least 16,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Sanaa on 27 January, including at least 10,000 at Sanaa University.
After the government announced intentions for political reforms, protesters rejected the proposals as not extensive enough to ensure Saleh or his son do not continue to rule indefinitely. Protesters appeared to be pushing for reform rather than a revolution unlike in Tunisia. A Yemeni journalist stated: "These were not spontaneous or popular protests like in Egypt, but rather mass-rallies organised by the opposition who are using events in Tunisia to test Saleh's regime. This is only the start of a fierce political battle in the run-up to Yemen's parliamentary elections in April."
29 January On 29 January, protesters in Sanaa demanded the ouster of Saleh. They chanted "Ali, leave leave" and "Tunisia left, Egypt after it and Yemen in the coming future" before plainclothes police officers attacked the demonstration, though no casualties were reported. Tawakel Karman, a leading parliamentary member of the Al-Islah, said a security force personnel tried to attack her with a dagger and a shoe but protesters stopped him. She also said that "We will continue until the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime. We have the Southern Movement in the south, the (Shia) Huthi rebels in the north, and parliamentary opposition [calling for political change]."
At the end of the month, activist Belquis Al Lahabi noted that, initially, women led multiple protests and a number of the issues raised were on maternal mortality, child marriage, and the uneven burden of illiteracy and poverty on women – though by the end of the first month, women were beaten in the town square in Sanaa that they once led.
February
3 February – "Day of Rage"
Karman called for 3 February to be a "Day of Rage." According to the Xinhua News Agency, organisers were calling for a million protesters to participate in the demonstration in Sanaa. The day before, the Interior Ministry stated that it was increasing security prior to the planned protests in order to prevent weapons from being introduced and "suspects" from entering major cities.
About 20,000 people demonstrated in Sanaa. Prior to the anti-government demonstration, armed members of the General People's Congress set up tents and portraits of President Saleh in Al-Tahrir Square, the original anti-government protest venue, forcing a change of venue for the anti-government protestors. A protest in Aden was broken up by security services who reportedly fired tear gas and even live ammunition. Mohammed al-Sabri of the Common Forum called Saleh's attempt to halt protests "unacceptable;" though he also said that his group would "discuss the president's announcement." Al Jazeera said Yemen had increased security the next day.
11 February Human Rights Watch said that demonstrators celebrating the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt turned violent when hundreds of men armed with knives, sticks, and assault rifles attacked the protesters.
12 February By noon, at least 4,000 protesters gathered to demonstrate in Sanaa, with numbers expected to rise.
Approximately 5,000 police with clubs and government supporters beat the anti-government protesters who were celebrating the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and were also demanding the removal of Saleh. Protesters also tried to reach the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa, but police forces kept them back. The General People's Congress sent busloads of their members, equipped with food, water and tents, to Sanaa Square to prevent protesters from gathering there. Clashes then broke out between the groups after pro-Saleh protesters, armed with knives and sticks, forced about 300 anti-government protesters to end their protests. The Associated Press reported government troops as beating the anti-government protesters who were chanting "After Mubarak, it's Ali's turn" and "A Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution."
The Al-Iman University, which was supposed to have been associated with the Muslim Brotherhood faced calls from MPs for its closure. (in Arabic). barakish.net. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
13 February About 2,000 protesters marched in Sanaa in the third day in a row of protests. The protesters chanted "the Yemeni people want the fall of the regime" and "a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution." About 1,000 protesters then broke off to march to the presidential palace where police then blocked access to the palace and clashed with them.
Saleh and an unnamed opposition group were preparing to start talks to avoid an "Egypt-style" revolt. Saleh also postponed a trip to the United States "due to the current circumstances in the region."
14 February Several thousand protesters, mostly university students, demanding Saleh resign and for political reform started at Sanaa University. Pro-government demonstrators then came to the university and attacked the other demonstrators, before the latter started to march ahead. Though police initially managed to keep a counter-demonstration apart from the anti-government protesters, violence was reported. Police also then pushed back the anti-government protesters using clubs. Reports suggested multiple injuries and twenty-three arrests. Protests that turned violent were also reported in Aden and other cities.
15 February In Sanaa, about 3,000 people protested against the President and were attacked by about 2000 government supporters and plain-clothes police with tasers.
16 February About 500 people protested in Aden, calling to "overthrow the regime" and for President Saleh "to leave". Two were shot dead by police. In Sanaa, hundreds of students protesting against the President were attacked by supporters of the President armed with batons, stones and daggers. Judges continued a sit-in that started on 15 February calling for greater independence for the judiciary, for the members of the Supreme Judicial Council to be dismissed, and for higher salaries.
Various witnesses said the anti-government protesters had gathered at Sanaa University in the capital and clashed with loyalists armed with batons and daggers. At least four people were wounded in a similar confrontation on the 16th, as student demonstrators were trying to march from the university toward the city centre and threw rocks at their government attackers, as they continued marching from the university. One person was also killed during a clash between demonstrators and police in Aden.
17 February About 2,000 protesters, both anti-government and pro-government wearing Yemeni flags as headbands and capes, faced off against each other on Sanaa's Al Rabat Street around noon. Stones and pieces of concrete were thrown and the anti-government and pro-government groups sometimes ran towards each other. Police arrived after over an hour of clashes and fired warning shots into the air until all protesters left the area.
A group of influential clerics in Yemen have called for the formation of a national unity government that would see the opposition represented in key ministries, followed by elections in six months. They say the move would place Yemen in the same situation as Egypt and Tunisia, without suffering bloodshed.
On 17 February, in a seventh day of clashes, some supporters of the Yemeni government clashed with anti-government demonstrators calling for Saleh's ouster.
18 February – "Friday of Anger" In the largest demonstrations yet, tens of thousands of Yemenis took part in anti-government demonstrations in Sanaa, Taiz and Aden for a "Friday of Fury", as it was termed by protest organisers, with pro-government supporters also rallying in several cities. In the capital, Sanaa, the crowd marched towards the presidential palace, chanting anti-government slogans, despite riot police attempting to stop them from doing so. Three people have been killed in the demonstrations with one of the deaths happening after a hand grenade was thrown at anti-government protesters in Taiz. There were also reports of gunfire during a rally in Aden, where riots flared overnight, with protesters setting fire to a local government building and security forces killing one demonstrator.
19 February Several anti-government protesters have been injured in clashes with supporters of Yemen's president, as both sides fired pistols and assault rifles, the first reported use of firearms by demonstrators. Five Saleh opponents were wounded by gunfire, three of them seriously, and three were wounded when demonstrators threw stones at each other outside the university. Around 1,000 anti-government demonstrators chanted "Leave! Leave!" and "The people want the fall of the regime!", and between 200 and 300 Saleh supporters called for dialogue.
In southern Yemen, where resentment of rule from Sanaa has run high, dozens of men used their cars in the town of Karish to block the main road between Taiz and Aden, shouting for "the fall of the regime". In Aden as many as 400 protesters staged a peaceful sit-in, holding banners saying: "No to oppression. No to corruption". The local council of Sheikh Othman, a directorate in Aden, said in a statement it resigned in protest at the use of live bullets by security forces against protesters which led to deaths and injuries in the city on Friday. In Sanaa, the editor of the defence ministry newspaper was wounded when he was beaten and stabbed by anti-government protesters.
20 February