Direct proof of use
Oryx listed the BTR-152M under armored personnel carriers in its September 2015 handbook of pre-war Yemeni fighting vehicles. The article describes the list as equipment in Yemeni Army service before the Houthi takeover of Yemen in 2014 and 2015 and as a record of military equipment available to Yemeni battlefield parties.
That evidence supports BTR-152M fielding as inherited Yemeni Army armored materiel in the 2014 Yemen Civil War. It does not identify a specific dated BTR-152M engagement, vehicle loss, convoy, or post-takeover operator.
Sources: Oryx Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles
Timeline
The relevant conflict sequence begins with the 2014 Houthi takeover of Sanaa and the 2015 expansion of the war. CFR describes the civil war as beginning when Houthi insurgents took control of Sanaa in 2014, followed by the January 2015 presidential-palace crisis and a Saudi-led intervention from March 2015.
Oryx published its Yemeni vehicle handbook on September 20, 2015, after the Saudi-led intervention had begun. Its BTR-152M listing therefore documents the vehicle type as part of the legacy Yemeni Army inventory available during the early civil-war period, rather than as a new wartime delivery.
Sources: CFR Yemen and Red Sea Tracker, Oryx Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles
Battlefield role
The BTR-152M entry should be read as a Yemen-specific service and configuration record inside the wider Soviet BTR-152 family. WeaponSystems.net describes the BTR-152 family as a six-wheeled armored personnel carrier developed after the Second World War, normally armed with a 7.62 mm SGMB machine gun and sometimes fitted with a 12.7 mm DShKM heavy machine gun.
In Yemen, the source-backed BTR-152M role is legacy protected mobility where serviceable vehicles remained available from Yemeni Army stocks. Defense Express separately reported that Yemeni government forces operated BTR-152 armored vehicles with AK-630 or GSh-6-30K gun installations, but that reporting does not identify those vehicles as the M variant.
Sources: WeaponSystems.net BTR-152, Oryx Pre-War Yemeni Fighting Vehicles, Defense Express AK-630 Hybrid
