As Saudi Arabia and Egypt say they’re prepared to send in ground troops, here’s a look at the how Yemen got to this point.

Warplanes flying out of Saudi Arabia began conducting airstrikes in Yemen on Thursday, and the Egyptian army said it was prepared to join the Saudis in launching a ground invasion of the country.

Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi / Reuters

Yemen has been a mess for years. But how did its domestic chaos — ranging from civil war to a struggle between Al Qaeda and ISIS — turn into a regional nightmare?

Wikimedia

The result was a brief but bloody civil war in 1994. President Ali Abdullah Saleh emerged victorious. He spent the rest of the decade solidifying his grasp on power.

After the mujahideen's fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan ended, Yemen was where Osama bin Laden chose to foster the growth of al-Qaeda. From there, the group launched one of its first major attacks against the U.S., targeting the docked USS Cole.

Dimitri Messinis / Associated Press

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