Aden (South24) 

On Thursday (December 4), the Saudi-backed Nation Shield Forces received control of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade in Al-Abr district, Hadramout, as part of what they described as "official directives".  This came just hours after the Southern Forces seized the camp on Thursday and expelled units of the First Military District, according to field sources. 

The brigade is located along the desert international highway linking Yemen and Saudi Arabia, about 90 km from the Al-Wadiah border crossing with the Kingdom. 

In neighboring Al-Mahra governorate, a South24 correspondent reported that Nation Shield Forces also took over "securing" of Al-Ghaydah Airport and Nishtun Port as part of new security arrangements overseen by Saudi Arabia, which included the deployment of additional forces around vital facilities. 

The Nation Shield Forces issued a statement on Platform X confirming their deployment at Al-Ghaydah Airport and nearby facilities. Southern forces did not comment on the handover of these sites. 

A source told South24 that the handover of Al-Abr camp was done in coordination with Southern forces. 

A well-informed Southern political source said in statements seen by South24 that Saudi warplanes targeted tribal groups arriving from Marib as they attempted to approach Nation Shield positions in Al-Abr. The source denied that the strikes were aimed at Southern forces. 

The source noted that the strikes occurred close to one of the brigades seized by Southern forces on Thursday. Circulating footage showed heavy smoke and warplanes flying overhead. 

South24 could not independently verify this from Saudi sources. 

Southern forces had earlier announced securing Wadi Hadramout as part of the “Promising Future” Operation, launched on Wednesday, which reached Seiyun city and the headquarters of the First Military District after limited clashes that left more than 10 Southern soldiers dead and several others wounded, while dozens of Yemeni government troops were killed or injured. 

Later, political, security, and military sources announced the takeover of military and government sites in Al-Mahra by members of the Southern Al-Ghaydah Axis, with South Yemen flags raised over key facilities and international crossings, as Southern forces advanced toward the border governorate with Oman. 

On Wednesday, Nation Shield Forces welcomed an agreement brokered by Saudi Arabia between local authorities and Sheikh Amr bin Habrish, a prominent figure in the Hadrami Tribes Alliance. 

The statement said that the leadership of Nation Shield Forces "welcomed the expanded meeting held yesterday [Wednesday] in Mukalla between a Saudi Special Committee delegation led by Mohammed Obaid Al-Qahtani and Hadramout local authority leaders headed by Salem Al-Khanbashi, in addition to security officials, local leaders, and social and tribal figures". 

The Nation Shield Forces considered the meeting "a reflection of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s keenness to prevent the situation from sliding into escalation". 

Saudi Arabia began forming the Nation Shield Forces in Lahj and Hadramout – with the approval of the Southern Transitional Council – in mid-2022 through a wide recruitment drive, before the official announcement in January 2023 by a decree of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council chairman. The formations include more than 8,000 fighters, comprising mostly Southerners, across seven brigades, stationed mainly in Lahj, northern Hadramout, and Al-Mahra. 

The forces are commanded by Southern Salafi leader Bashir Al-Mudrabi Al-Subaihi. They state that their primary mission is fighting the Houthis, while affirming their independent identity from Saudi-backed Northern formations such as the "Happy Yemen Brigades" (Alwaiyat Al-Yemen Al-Saeed). 

Saudi Arabia has supported these formations with military vehicles and field visits to brigades stationed in Al-Dhalea and Lahj. 

The takeover of sites in Al-Mahra and Hadramout by Nation Shield Forces follows similar steps, including assuming security duties at the Al-Wadi’ah crossing in August 2024 after the withdrawal of First Military District units, according to military sources. 

 The development coincided with new statements by the Hadramout governor announcing the local authority’s readiness to deploy Hadrami Elite Forces in Wadi and Desert Hadramout amid accelerating security and military arrangements in South Yemen’s eastern regions.