Al-Mahra (South24 Center)

On Tuesday dawn (March 17), security forces raided the residence of Major General Mohsen Mersaa, the former commander of the Al-Ghayda Axis, in the city of Al-Ghayda, Al-Mahra Governorate. The operation, conducted without an official explanation, has triggered a wave of conflicting political and tribal reactions.

Local sources told South24 Center that the raiding unit included elements from the "Nation’s Shield" forces, the Facility Protection forces, and Central Security.

The sources added that the forces confiscated a military "Ford" vehicle from the house courtyard, while no official justifications or comments from the relevant authorities have been issued so far.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) warned, in its initial response, that any targeting of Southern leaders would be met with a "firm and decisive" political and popular stance. In an official statement, the council asserted that "the era of turning a blind eye to such actions has passed."

The STC condemned what it described as an "assault by the Emergency Forces and the Saudi-backed Nation’s Shield forces of the de facto government" on Mersaa’s home. It characterized the incident as a "systematic method of weaponizing state apparatuses for oppression and political liquidation."

The statement further noted that targeting a "prominent Southern leader" sends messages of intimidation and reflects an attempt to impose the logic of dominance as a substitute for the law, warning that the continuation of such practices could push the situation toward "dangerous turns."

Former Al-Mahra Governor Rajeh Bakrit denounced the incident, describing it as "morally unacceptable," contrary to Al-Mahra’s social norms, and lacking any legal justification.

Simultaneously, the Bakazem tribes (Abyan), to which Mersaa belongs, condemned the raid as a "full-fledged crime." They reported that the operation involved assaults on the house guards and acts of vandalism against private property.

In a separate statement, the Al-Mahra Security Committee announced that security and police forces, supported by the Nation’s Shield and other units, conducted raids on several homes in Al-Ghayda on Tuesday morning, resulting in the dismantling of a "criminal cell."

The committee explained that the operation led to the arrest of six individuals accused of involvement in theft and drug trafficking. It noted that some locations witnessed resistance from the suspects before being secured without casualties. However, the statement did not explicitly specify whether these operations were linked to the raid on Maj. Gen. Mohsen Mersaa’s home.

These developments come amid escalating tensions in Al-Mahra. In December, Southern forces affiliated with the STC arrived in Hadramout and Al-Mahra, where Maj. Gen. Mersaa was among the military commanders who cooperated with them.

Notably, the Al-Ghayda Axis, formerly led by Mersaa, was targeted by Saudi airstrikes in early January. Those strikes were part of a broader campaign involving hundreds of air raids against Southern forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra, which eventually led to their withdrawal from the two governorates.