The UN-recognised government of Yemen has shaken up its political and military leadership in an attempt to regain territory lost to the Houthis in September and lift the four-week siege of Taiz , the country’s third largest city.
A counteroffensive launched on 5 October and aimed at liberating the entire country from Houthi control has failed amid fighting that has left thousands dead on both sides. The air superiority of the government’s ally Saudi Arabia – which has had to fend off near-daily Houthi attacks on its airports and military bases – has not translated into progress on the ground.
Reuters reported on Monday that Houthi forces were only about 37 miles (60km) from Aden, the nominal seat of the UN-recognised government.
A burst of government dismissals and appointments reflects military reverses and possibly a perceived need to be more sensitive to the demands of southern Yemenis.
Between 1967 and 1990, the country was divided in two, and there is a strong movement built around the banned Southern Transitional Council (STC) seeking to revert to that division, or create a more federated country.
The government has become dependent on southern troops to fend off Houthi advances, but these forces insist they will fight only to defend land inside former South Yemen.
Fresh claims were also aired this week that STC leaders were coerced by the Saudis into dissolving the organisation against their will. The growing criticism of Saudi Arabia from STC officials in the media reflects their confidence that if the north is lost to the Houthis , the Saudis will have to let the STC operate openly. Not all southern separatists support the STC, an organisation that overreached itself in January, making it easier for the Saudi leadership to defer decisions on the southern question.
Some of the most senior figures in the UN-backed government are largely based in hotels in Riyadh rather than operating permanently from inside Yemen and the government is dependent on Saudi money to pay salaries. Critics say the administration has become a “hotel government”.
Earlier this week, its ruling executive – the presidential leadership council – met for the first time in months in Riyadh, where it addressed the loss of swathes of territory to the Houthis along Yemen’s west coast. Since then, the fighting has moved into the mountains around Taiz.
In an attempt to rebalance the north-south divide in his government, President Rashad al-Alimi sacked the long-serving information minister, Muammar al-Eryani, replacing him with Prof Salem al-Awlaki, previously a minister for the civil service and a spokesperson for the STC from 2017 to 2019. Alimi chose two other southerners as ministers for local administration and the civil service and appointed new leaders for the civil aviation authority, the ports of Aden and the ministry of transport.
He also sacked Yusuf al-Sharaji, the military figure responsible for the Taiz front and Abu Bakr al-Jabouli, a brigadier responsible for the Tor al-Baha axis. Widespread accusations had been made about al-Sharaji’s failure to manage operations, resulting in the fall of several areas and districts to the Houthis.
The task of lifting the siege of Taiz and coordinating forces has been handed to Maj Gen Rashad al-Yousfi, a career officer.
Part of the difficulty is the tension between the different forces fighting on the government’s side. It has been claimed that Abu Zara’a, the leader of the Southern Giants, has fallen out with the Homeland Shield Forces, which are funded by Saudi Arabia and affiliated with Abdulrahman al-Lahji.
The Homeland Shield experienced heavy losses, leading al-Lahji to file an official report accusing Abu Zara’a of treason, and warning that the situation in Dhubab, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, had become extremely dangerous for the government. Repeated claims that control of the strait had been wrested back from the Houthis were contradicted by the evidence.
