Yemen's top factions are squaring off for battle after months of skirmishes, turning respectively to neighboring Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran for help in what may become all-out war.
With President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi seeking a comeback from the port city of Aden while the Shiite Houthi movement controls the capital Sanaa, rival administrations are trading bellicose rhetoric as fighting intensifies and factions commandeer airfields for the next stage of the struggle.
Somewhat on the sidelines, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State group are waiting to exploit what some fear could become Yemen's worst conflict since a 1994 civil war.