Aden (South24 Center)

The Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Rashad Al-Alimi, has issued decrees appointing new leadership for the Saudi-backed Nation Shield Forces (Deraa al-Watan). This move follows months of internal tensions and mutual accusations regarding the role of these forces in conflicts within the southern governorates.

According to two decrees published by the official news agency "Saba" on March 21, Brigadier General Bassam Mahdhar al-Sanabi was appointed Commander of the Nation Shield Forces and promoted to the rank of Major General. Additionally, Brigadier General Abdulrahman Saleh al-Lahji was appointed Chief of Staff and also promoted to Major General, while retaining his current position as Commander of the 4th Infantry Brigade.

Al-Sanabi succeeds former commander Bashir al-Subaihi, having previously served as the forces' Chief of Staff since their establishment.

Both Al-Sanabi and Al-Lahji are prominent military figures from South Yemen who rose to prominence after 2015. Belonging to the Salafi current, they played active roles in the fight against the Houthis on the West Coast and in Hodeidah in 2018.

The Nation Shield Forces are among the most significant military formations established in Yemen in recent years. They were officially created by a presidential decree on January 29, 2023, and report directly to the PLC Chairman, who determines their operational scope.

However, the mobilization and funding of these forces by Saudi Arabia began many months prior to that decree. The force primarily consists of fighters from southern governorates, alongside elements from the north.

This leadership shuffle comes at a sensitive juncture, following an internal crisis that emerged last December. Political sources told South24 Center at the time that Saudi Arabia had exerted pressure on southern commanders and personnel within the Nation Shield Forces to engage in confrontations against Southern Forces in Hadramout.

The sources added that a large number of officers and soldiers refused, maintaining that their primary battle should remain directed at the Houthis rather than internal infighting. During that period, a statement attributed to former commander Bashir al-Subaihi circulated locally, in which he reportedly declared his forces' refusal to fight their "brothers in the South," stating that the clashes in Hadramout did not represent the Nation Shield Forces.

South24 could not independently verify the authenticity or circumstances of that statement.

The leadership changes also coincide with mounting accusations against the Nation Shield Forces regarding human rights violations. These include the use of live ammunition against protesters and a campaign of arrests targeting Southern Transitional Council (STC) supporters following a mass rally in Seiyun, Wadi Hadramout, on February 6.

Furthermore, on March 17, local sources told South24 Center that a Nation Shield unit participated in a raid on the home of the former commander of the Al-Ghayda Axis, Major General Mohsen Mersaa, in Al-Mahra, seizing a military vehicle without any official explanation for the operation.