The protracted struggle known as the Huk War, alternatively named the Huk Wars or the Yam'rii crisis, was fought between the Kaleesh originating from the world of Kalee and the Yam'rii who hailed from the planet Huk.
Spanning generations, the conflict arose as the rapacious and technologically advanced insectoid Yam'rii aggressively expanded, overwhelming adjacent planets like Abbaji and Tovarskl). They colonized these worlds without mercy, looting their resources. The ever-hungry Yam'rii eventually set their sights on nearby Kalee, aiming to enslave the native Kaleesh. Millions of Kaleesh were captured and sold into bondage. Unwilling to accept subjugation, the Kaleesh revolted, plunging the two races into a brutal war. This led many Kaleesh to contemptuously call the Yam'rii "Huks," which translated to "soulless bugs."
From this violent period emerged two Kaleesh warriors of seemingly unmatched power: the lethal Qymaen jai Sheelal and Ronderu lij Kummar. Together, they fought with valor, slaughtering countless Yam'rii in numerous battles, their names becoming legendary.
Tragically, Ronderu lij Kummar was eventually killed in action against the Yam'rii on Kalee's shores. A grief-stricken Sheelal adopted the moniker "Grievous," gathered a handpicked "elite" legion of equally tormented warriors known as the Izvoshra, and evolved into an even more ferocious and vengeful warlord. Leading the kolkpravis fighting force, Grievous exacted a heavy toll on the Yam'rii, ultimately driving them off Kalee.
His bloodlust and desire for revenge did not cease with the retreat from Kalee. Grievous led his warriors on a campaign against the Yam'rii colony worlds, devastating both military and civilian populations. He advanced as far as Tovarskl, prompting the Yam'rii, through their connections with the Trade Federation, to desperately appeal to the Republic for assistance.
The Senate intervened in the conflict, swayed by the Yam'rii's false claims that the Kaleesh had initiated the war. Taking the Yam'rii's side and seeking to halt the fighting, the Republic deployed a Jedi task force led by Masters T'chooka D'oon and Jmmaar, as well as paramilitary forces, following a precedent set during the Stark Hyperspace War. The Republic imposed severe sanctions and demanded reparations from the Kaleesh for their aggression, thereby ending the Huk War. Grievous, a warrior by nature, was compelled to return to his family as the war concluded.
Following the war, Kalee suffered severe economic hardship due to the Republic's sanctions. Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum believed that the Republic's intervention had achieved a diplomatic resolution to the Huk War. However, on Kalee, Grievous witnessed his wives, children, and people starve, suffer, and slowly die, fueling his growing hatred for the Republic. With few options, Grievous became an enforcer for the InterGalactic Banking Clan, which promised to alleviate Kalee's suffering in exchange for his services. This arrangement continued until Grievous discovered that the Yam'rii had gone unpunished by the Republic despite desecrating Kaleesh burial sites on the colony worlds.
Around 29 BBY, Grievous violated his agreement with the IBC. He and his Kaleesh elite boarded a troop shuttle, intending to reignite the Huk War. However, Grievous's plans were thwarted when his shuttle was destroyed by an ion bomb, secretly placed by the Banking Clan and its Separatist allies. Grievous was forced to undergo reconstruction as a cyborg to survive.
During the Yinchorri Uprising, Valorum cited the "Yam'rii crisis" as a recent example of the Republic's use of paramilitaries to address a problem, followed by a diplomatic solution. Although the Huk War seemed to be over, its legacy resurfaced during the Clone Wars when Grievous returned to Tovarskl with his droid armies and destroyed the Yam'rii population, completing what he had begun years before.