Photos: In Aden, a generation chewed up and spat out by Yemen’s war

Best friends, they grew up together. When rebels attacked Aden, they fought together with Kalashnikovs, not a day of military training between them. It was a rite of passage for Osama Ahmed (C) and Ahmed Saleh (L), a moment for the teens to prove their manhood in a society where every man has a gun and is expected to know how to use it. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

Updated on: May 13, 2018 11:52 AM IST

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Best friends, they grew up together. When rebels attacked Aden, they fought together with Kalashnikovs, not a day of military training between them. It was a rite of passage for Osama Ahmed (C) and Ahmed Saleh (L), a moment for the teens to prove their manhood in a society where every man has a gun and is expected to know how to use it. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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Osama Ahmed, now 21, holds his rifle at his home. Listed as terrorists because of their Yemini citizenship he said that they cannot even leave the country and look for other opportunities. On the day he left for battle Ahmed said his mother told him, “Son, I worry about you... But if every mother thinks this way, no one will go and fight for us... Do not leave your friends.” (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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The 2015 Battle for Aden turned out to be a brutal, scarring experience. Three years later, Ahmed and Saleh wander a shattered city, disillusioned. They have no jobs, hope or prospects. Nights, they sit on the beach and watch the moon on the waves of the Arabian Sea, chewing qat and dreaming of leaving Yemen. “It doesn’t feel like it will get any better in our lifetime,” Ahmed said. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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Ahmed al-Kawkabani (C), leader of the southern resistance unit in Hodeida with his 16-year-old son Shaeeb (L) and his 8-year-old Abdullah, at their home. He said his son wants to join him and fight the war. Despite his advise to concentrate more on his studies, Shaeeb finishes school, changes from his uniform and takes up a rifle. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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Young Saudi-led coalition backed forces patrol al-Khoukha. Fighters on all sides are often minors, some as young as 12 are dragged into what many see as a cynical fight between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and a US-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia nominally supporting the government. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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The Battle of Aden began in March 2015, when the Houthis, who overran the north the previous year, stormed south and attacked Aden, the last bastion of the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. With the backing of Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies, fighters were able to drive them back. Fighting has since moved north. But Aden has only further fallen apart. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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A photo displayed on the phone of 18-year-old Ahmed Saleh (L) with his friend reads, “marry me or I will go with Al Qaida.” For Ahmed, Saleh and their friends, it wasn’t a fight for President Hadi, it was for the south against the north. Southern Yemen was once independent and separatist sentiment remains powerful. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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Mohammed Abu Hassan, 30, who fought during the ‘2015 battle of Aden’ holds his rifle on a beach in Aden. “Enough violence, I hate it. Aden now is full of militias. Everyone is killing everyone. What did we gain out of all this? Nothing... This is not for God. This is all about people’s selfish interest,” he said. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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To Ahmed (C) and Saleh, any veneer of a patriotic fight is gone — all they see is greed and self-interest. They and the others stood little chance against the rockets and mines and witnessed their friends along with women and children blown apart into pieces. Ahmed said, “We’ve realized that everyone is running toward power and fame.” (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)

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Youth gather in martyrs square during the seventh anniversary of the independence of the south from the rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh in Aden.The most reliable employment today is as a fighter in one of the militias, flush with funds from their international patrons. Otherwise, jobless men hang around all day in the streets. (Nariman El-Mofty / AP)