Hadramout (South24)

On Tuesday (Dec 31), the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) issued directives to appoint a new leadership for the First Military District in Wadi Hadramout.

The directives included: 

Decision No. 333 of 2024 was for the appointment of Brigadier General Saleh Mohammed Abdul Rabbo Al-Jaimlani as commander of the First Military District, commander of the 37th Armored Brigade, and his promotion to the rank of Major General.

Decision No. 334 stipulated the appointment of Colonel Ali Yahya Al-Adbai as commander of the 135th Infantry Brigade and his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General.

Decision No. 346 stipulated the appointment of the former commander of the First Military District, Major General Saleh Mohammed Taymis, as advisor to the PLC Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi.

Decision No. 347 stipulated the appointment of Brigadier General Yahya Ali Abu Awja, the former commander of the 135th Infantry Brigade, as advisor to the Minister of Defense.

The decisions included the appointment of Brigadier General Mohammed Salmeen Awad Batis as Assistant to the Minister of Defense for Human Resources Affairs, and his promotion to the rank of Major General.

Brigadier General Ali Hatem Ahmed Abdullah was also appointed as an advisor to the Minister of Defense for training and educational facilities.

The 135th Brigade is the largest brigade in the First Military District in Wadi Hadramout.

This brigade was led by the northern officer Yahya Abu Awja, who was considered the de facto commander of the First Military District in recent years.

These decisions come amid escalating demands by residents in Hadramout to remove the First Military District forces from the oil-rich Wadi region, given that most of its members come from areas controlled by the Houthis in North Yemen.

Local residents are demanding that the Hadrami Elite Forces deployed on the Hadramout coast replace the First Military District.

During 2022, new military forces emerged in Hadramout under the name Nation Shield Forces, with support from Saudi Arabia.

In August 2024, the Nation Shield Forces assumed protection duties at the Al-Wadiah land crossing between Hadramout and Saudi Arabia.

It is worth noting that on November 8, 2024, two Saudi officers were shot dead by a Yemeni soldier belonging to the 135th Infantry Brigade at the headquarters of the First Military District in the city of Seiyun in Hadramout.

According to local sources, the soldier, Mohammed Al-Arousi, who hails from Al-Jawf Governorate in North Yemen, has not yet been arrested. He fled at the time under mysterious circumstances.

The incident was widely condemned by Yemenis and Arabs.