Like most residents of Amran, a strategic gateway to Yemen’s capital Sanaa, Mohammed al-Najri thought the capture of his city by Huthi rebels five years ago would not last long. But fighting quickly spread to most areas of the country, plunging the Arab world’s most impoverished nation into a devastating conflict that is yet to end. Fifty kilometres (30 miles) north of Sanaa, Amran was taken by the Iran-backed Huthis on July 8, 2014. It was the first major city to fall, in a military campaign that saw the rebels seize vast swathes of Yemen from the internationally recognised government. At the education ministry office in Amran where he works, Najri has gone without his salary ever since the beleaguered government two years ago moved the central bank from Sanaa to Aden, its makeshift capital. “Five years have passed since the war broke out, but we know there is still a long way to go,” the 40-year-old civil servant told AFP by telephone. “Our situation has deteriorated … We have reached rock bottom. Everything has collapsed,” he said. Mohammed Taha, 48, a journalist from Amran who has continued to cover his home city since the Huthis seized it, does not even consider the possibility of peace. “Five years of war were sufficient for me to adapt and adjust my life and that of my family accordingly,” Taha told AFP. “Yes, we were affected by the war at the start, but we were able to live with its consequences. I no longer care if it continues or ends,” he said. ‘Dangerous’ plot The United Nations says Yemen is experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, warning that millions are on the verge of famine. Thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, have been killed and tens of thousands wounded. Essential health, education and other services have all but collapsed, especially since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the government. In Amran, rebels carrying automatic rifles remain vigilant day and night, while revolutionary slogans are daubed everywhere on the old city’s brown buildings made of clay and stones. “Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on Jews and victory for Islam,” reads one slogan. Two Yemeni government officials told AFP that when Amran fell into the hands of the Huthis, no one was aware of the rebels’ plans to take their military campaign to Sanaa and other regions. Beyond the city limits, Amran is a key province in Yemen historically, boasting important archeological landmarks, including the 100-year-old Shaharah Bridge — meaning the ‘bridge of sighs’ — which links two mountains. It is also home to Raydah town, where the last of Yemen’s Jews lived, before they made their way to Israel in 1949-1950 in a secret airlift dubbed “Operation Magic Carpet”.