Hadramout (South24)

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On Thursday (Aug 23), the Saudi-backed Nation Shield Forces (NSF) took over most of the security sites and facilities at Al-Wadiah, a land port located in Hadramout Governorate which is Yemen's only active border crossing with Saudi Arabia.

An official source in the NSF told 'South24 Center' today that units from the Third Division stationed in Hadramout took over control of the land port from the 141st Brigade affiliated with the Yemeni government.

The sites that were handed over include all the buildings and facilities affiliated to the port, such as the passport checkpoint, customs, and the middle gate. Press sources reported that the military gate, the external gate, and the external sites are still under the management of the 141st Brigade.

The source, who declined to reveal his identity due to not being authorized to speak to the media, did not provide any additional details.

The NSF is a newly established military force, which began forming in mid-2022 with direct support from Saudi Arabia. It is estimated that these forces currently include about 16,000 armed men distributed across several brigades in Lahj, Hadramout and Aden in South Yemen.

These forces gained official status after a declaration by Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Rashad Al-Alimi, on January 29, 2023, to establish military units called the ’Nation Shield Forces‘ to serve as a reserve for the PLC Chairman.

These forces have raised tensions in recent months when they tried to deploy in Mukalla and the Coast of Hadramout, in areas controlled by the Hadrami Elite Forces and the Second Military District.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Hadramout had announced its rejection of this move, demanding the deployment of Hadrami Elite Forces in Wadi and Desert Hadramout and the withdrawal of the Northern forces affiliated with the First Military District (military forces ideologically and militarily loyal to the Islah Party or Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood).

It is noteworthy that the 141st Infantry Brigade consists of Northern soldiers and was tasked, among other forces, with liberating Sanaa from the Houthis, but it preferred to deploy in Al-Wadiah in Hadramout.

The brigade is led by Hashem al-Ahmar, a member of al-Ahmar family who enjoyed wide military and political influence under Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime and is believed to be linked to shady oil and gas deals in the South. Other Northern brigades deployed in the Wadi Hadramout near the oil fields, are made up of thousands of soldiers from Amran, Sanaa and Hajjah, areas controlled by the Houthis since 2014.