Aden (South24) 

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The Southern Transitional Council (STC) announced today that its president, Major General Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, paid a visit to a number of Southern Armed Forces brigades and units inside and outside the capital, Aden, to inspect their training course progress.

The website of ‘Deraa Aljanoob’, which translates to Southern Shield, published a statement that detailed Al-Zubaidi’s field visits to several Southern Armed Forces camps. He was accompanied by the head of joint operations of the internationally recognized government forces, Major General Saleh Ali Hassan, and the commander of the Fourth Military District, Major General Fadhl Hassan.

"President Al-Zubaidi was briefed on the training programs to which priority members and Southern military units are subjected, as part of restructuring procedures to raise their capabilities” the statement added.

Al-Zubaidi stressed the need to raise the vigilance of the Southern Armed Forces to protect its members from any attack and to continue programs to develop and rehabilitate them.

The visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of former Southern President Ali Salem Al-Beidh’s announcement of disengagement from North Yemen on May 21, 1994, when a four-year-old unity agreement collapsed due to the outbreak of civil war.

Today, in a statement on their website marking the occasion, the STC said, “We salute our people on the anniversary of the disengagement announcement on May 21, 1994”. 

The statement went on to reflect on how the disengagement signified a rejection of Yemeni hegemony and created a new reality for Yemenis, and that it “emerged from the legal legitimacy to restore and build the state of South”. 

The STC’s statement reaffirmed its commitment to restoring the Southern state and completing the disengagement project that began 30 years ago, through Southern revolution and resistance.  

Meanwhile, Yemeni parties and forces, including the Houthi militia, are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the declaration of unity between the state of South Yemen and the state of North Yemen on May 22, 1990.

In a televised speech on the "Unity Day", PLC Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi, who hails from North Yemen, stated that Yemeni Unity "represented a comprehensive civilizational project based on a set of lofty principles."

"We reiterate our full commitment to our previous pledges on this anniversary, foremost among which is considering the South Issue as the basis for a comprehensive solution, and our openness to all options to enable our people to achieve their aspirations," he added.

Concurrently, the Houthis announced postponing their celebrations for the Unity anniversary "until the end of the mourning period" for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Senior Houthi official Mahdi Al-Mashat threatened that they would adhere to a unity with South. He said, "We will not allow destructive ideas and narrow projects to put our country at risk".

Simultaneously, Al-Mashat called on Saudi Arabia "to complete what they started with it and to seriously engage in signing and implementing the roadmap".

Yemen’s Summer War lasted from April to July 1994 and was fought between South and North, culminating in the latter’s invasion of Aden and victory on July 7. The Northern side at that time sought help from extremists returning from Afghanistan.