Northern Exposure

The village of al-Mazrak is about 25 kilometres from the front line in the fight between Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels. The village's name loosely translates as "smuggler's point," as it has long been an entry and exit point for goods to cross the Saudi border. The prime item being transported across the border is qat, the narcotic leaf that is grown and used everywhere in Yemen and that is banned in Saudi Arabia.

Since fighting intensified about six months ago, the border is totally off-limits and I'm told soldiers will pretty much shoot at anything that moves. To get around this, smugglers evidently strap qat to donkeys and send the animals unaccompanied across the border.

Al-Mazrak itself is just a huddle of shacks on either side of the road. There appear to be more guns than people in the town itself, as the place is swarming with tribal militia as well as uniformed soldiers with guns slung casually across their shoulders. Things seemed fairly calm as we drove through the town over the past few days, but just a week ago tensions flared into a skirmish that left five people dead. It's hard for an outsider to tell who is who and as yet no one really knows what triggered the clash.

The surrounding area is quite beautiful -- stark mountains against a sandy horizon. The wind sometimes whips up little dust funnels. At other times, the sky completely fills with sand.

Until a few months ago,  al-Mazrak was a fairly anonymous place from which to launch smuggling convoys. But since August, tens of thousands of people have fled into the area and are now being housed in several IDP camps.  That's where I spent the past three days. I'm home in Sana'a now and still covered in sweat and dust from the visit. I'm tired but happy. I'll share more information about the work going on in the camps soon.