SUMMARY
The Southern Giants Brigades (al-Weyat al-Amaliqa al-Janubia) was a non-state actor that has been fighting in the conflict over government in Yemen as part of Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council (formerly Forces of Hadi). The Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) was the internationally recognized government of Yemen, but is a non-state actor in UCDP data due to its opponents, Ansarallah, capturing the capital city of Sanaa in 2015, and thus became the new Government of Yemen according to UCDP definitions.
The Giants Brigades were formed in 2015. Many of its members were Salafists, and many were South Yemeni separatists, though the movement as a whole was avowedly neither. Its leader was Abdulrahman Abu Zara'a Al Muharrami, a graduate from the Salafi Madrasah Dar al-Hadith movement which fought the Houthis in Saadah in the early 2010s. Muharrami was appointed one of the eight people leading the internationally recognized government as a part of the PLC in 2022. The Giants Brigades has since its inception been trained and equipped by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and has been one of the UAE’s key allies in Yemen. Since 2017, it had been one of three factions that make up the National Resistance Forces (NRF), also called the Joint Forces, alongside the Guardians of the Republic and Tihama Resistance, which together controlled most west coast areas under the control of the PLC. It appears to have distanced itself from the NRF in 2018 amid accusations of having been betrayed by the Guardians of the Republic during battles with the Ansarallah government. On May 8 2023, the Giants Brigades became a part of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the leading Southern separatist movement in Yemen, as Muharrami agreed to take up the position as deputy leader of the STC.
A constant source of friction within the PLC-coalition has been between Islah, a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned party that was a linchpin in the pro-Hadi coalition early on, and the UAE and its local allies. The UAE viewed the Muslim Brotherhood as a regional threat and a terrorist movement, and has thus long sought to weaken its influence in Yemen, even as they have ostensibly been allied in their opposition to the Ansarallah-government. Over time, Islah’s influence has weakened, especially after Hadi and his Islah-aligned vice president, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, was replaced with the PLC in April 2022. Without strong support from the Hadi administration, Islah suffered a string of defeats in July and August 2022 as the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and STC violently drove Islah out of Shabwah and forced the Islah-aligned governor of Hadramaut to be replaced in a coup.
The Giants Brigades were ostensibly still part of the STC in late 2025, as STC broke out of the PLC and declared independence as the 'State of South Arabia'. As Saudi Arabia stepped up its targeting of the STC in early 2026, the Giants Brigades switched sides back to the PLC capturing the formal interim-capital Aden from a retreating STC on their behalf.
The Giants Brigades have been active in the non-state category of violence. It has also participated in state-based violence as a part of the Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council.
STC (Southern Transitional Council) was a secessionist organization, active in southern Yemen. It was a member of the Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), formerly called the Forces of Hadi, the internationally recognized government of Yemen. The PLC has been fighting an intrastate conflict against the Sanaa-based Ansarallah administration (coded as the Government of Yemen due to their control of the capital), since 2015. For more information on this, see the conflict over government between Government of Yemen - Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council.
STC was formed by a faction of the Southern Movement, a group that had been calling for an independent state in South Yemen since 2007. The birth of the group was announced on 11 May 2017 in the city of Aden, which served as the interim-capital for the internationally recognized government of Yemen. The formation of STC was announced by the former Governor of Aden, Aydrous al-Zubaidi, who had been dismissed by President Hadi a few weeks earlier. The STC's leadership council also included other former governors and ministers. President Hadi immediately denounced the new secessionist group and urged all council members to distance themselves from it. He later dismissed several other governors listed as council members.
The secessionist movement in southern Yemen can be traced back to the formation of the present-day Yemeni state. The Republic of Yemen was founded in 1990 when North Yemen and South Yemen merged into one country. The armies and administrations, however, remained separate and a dispute in the new government eventually caused the southern parts of the country to attempt to secede in April 1994. This was hindered by the northern army, which seized full control over the southern parts of the country in July 1994 (see Yemen: South Yemen). Although the violence was thus halted, separatist sentiments remained. In 2007, Southern Movement was formed and began calling for an independent state. Although violence has been reported in connection to for example protest rallies, the group has not been included in UCDP data since it does not fulfill the UCDP criteria regarding organization. The Southern Movement also explicitly rejected the use of force, and thus lacked an incompatibility, even as some factions within it engaged in armed violence. In some instances, it has also not been possible to connect individual events to the group.
When STC was formed on 11 May 2017, it stated that its goal was to form of an independent southern state with the pre-1990 borders, consisting of the governorates of Aden, Lahij, the southern part of al-Dhali, Abyan, Shabwa, Hadramawt, al-Mahra and Socotra. The group set up local councils and correspondent offices both in southern Yemen and in other countries. It openly called for a referendum regarding the question of independence. In January 2026, it formally declared the independence of the 'State of South Arabia'.
According to STC, it consisted of a leadership council and a national assembly of around 300 representatives from southern Yemen. Whereas the precise military capacity of STC was unclear, it was considered one of the strongest factions in Yemen, backed by a number of large militia groups, and also received support from United Arab Emirates (UAE). At its peak it controlled essentially all territories that had been part of South Yemen. The group consisted of several sub-groups, including the Security Belt, Southern Resistance Brigades, Shabwani Elite forces, Hizam, the Support and Reinforcement Brigades, Asifah brigades, and Southern Armed Forces' brigades. In May 2023, the Giants Brigades became part of the STC network through the recruitment of their leader, another member of the Presidential Leadership Council.
Fighting between the STC and the Forces of Hadi broke out in Aden town in late January 2018, after the STC had demanded the withdrawal of the Forces of Hadi from the town. STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaid declared his forces had "begun the process of overthrowing” Hadi’s rule over South Yemen. Only days later, however, they affirmed their support for the Hadi's government and its war with the Houthi-government, thus becoming part of the Forces of Hadi. A new bout of fighting broke out on 7 August 2019, resulting in STC capturing Aden town, the interim capital of the Hadi government. Attempts by the Forces of Hadi to retake the city was stopped with the help of UAE airstrikes in support of the STC. In September, STC secured control of Socotra islands in a coup against the local government. On 25 October 2019, they once again became part of the Forces of Hadi through a power-sharing agreement. The agreement broke down in early 2020, however. On 26 April 2020, the STC broke with the Hadi government and announced it would establish self-rule in areas under its control. Widespread clashes broke out between the parties soon thereafter. On 10 December, a new power-sharing agreement was announced, resulting in the STC yet again joining the Hadi government.
President Hadi and his Islah-aligned vice president, Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, was replaced with the eight-man Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), in April 2022. STC leader al-Zubaid was made a member of the PLC at its formation, increasing its influence over the internationally recognized government. STC's relationship has been particularly strained with Islah, a Muslim Brotherhood aligned faction within the PLC for a long time. Growing tensions between the UAE, backing STC and several other factions of the PLC, and Saudi Arabia, backing Islah and the head of the PLC, Rashad al-Alimi, further inflamed these tensions. After Hadi was replaced, STC and their allies in the Giants Brigades took aggressive steps to decrease Islah's power and expand their own. A bloodless coup against the governor of Hadramawt in July 2022 was followed by the violent expulsion of Islah forces from Shabwah in August, and the forced withdrawal of Islah from Abyan.
STC took further steps to consolidate its hold over southern Yemen and the independence movement by recruiting several prominent South Yemeni politicians into the movement. Among the most notable recruits were PLC members Al Bahsani, the former governor of Hadramawt, and 'Abu Zara'a' Al Muharrami, the leader of the prominent Giants Brigades, which was thus effectually merged into the STC. Three out of the eight members of the PLC were thus members of STC, and the secessionist movement thus consolidated its hold over most of the areas that historically constituted South Yemen, while Ansarallah controlled of most of northern Yemen. STC's influence in Hadramawt governorate remained mainly limited to the coastal regions, however, with Islah and local allies of Saudi Arabia holding most of the central valley. Its influence also remained almost non-existent in Mahrah governorate, located in the far east of Yemen on the border with Oman.
This changed in late 2025, as the STC declared the “Great Hadramawt Battle” on November 25, marking a new break from the PLC. STC forcibly took control of Hadramawt, forcing PLC-forces into a rapid retreat. Immediately after securing Hadramawt, they surged into Mahrah, taking control of positions PLC forces abandoned without a fight. For a brief moment, STC held essentially all the areas that had made up South Yemen, and members of the group were openly suggesting they might now declare independence. On 2 January 2026, it formally declared the independence of the 'State of South Arabia'.
Saudi Arabia directly intervened in support of the PLC, however, launching a campaign of airstrikes against the STC in late December and January. In combination with the strikes, intense Saudi diplomatic pressure on factions within the STC caused it to fracture, with several factions, including the Giants Brigades, defecting to the PLC. The Giants Brigades captured Aden on behalf of the PLC on 7 January, facing only limited resistance as the STC appeared to be in a state of collapse, with its leader reportedly fleeing to UAE. The PLC formally demanded the UAE withdraw from Yemen in late December due to its support for the STC, and Saudi Arabia backed up the demand with an airstrike on a UAE military base in Yemen.
Amidst fighting with the PLC, STC was engaged in non-state conflicts with the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance (HTA) and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and in the intrastate South Yemen conflict against the Ansarallah-government.
STC has been active in the non-state and state-based categories of violence. It has also participated in state-based violence as a part of the Forces of the Presidential Leadership Council.
