SUMMARY

Free Yemeni Army was a gathering of army units under the command of General Ali Muhsin al-Ahmar that defected during the Arab Spring protests in Yemen in 2011. The defections took place in response to the mass killing of protesters by the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. During this period of instability, as security forces turned on each other and loyalist forces concentrated on the capital to protect the regime, the governments effective control of the country diminished. AQAP (al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula), which was formed in 2009, took advantage of the power-vacuum to expand its territorial control, capturing Zinjibar in May.

The 119th Infantry brigade, stationed to the west of Zinjibar as AQAP attacked, had joined the Free Yemeni Army. The brigade reportedly refused to come to the aid of the commander of the 25th Mechanized Brigade, positioned in the city, as he claimed a position of neutrality towards the revolution, thus allowing AQAP to capture most of the city. While he government mobilized additional forces to fight AQAP, the Free Yemeni Army remained disengaged until they were attacked by AQAP in June. While coordination remained shaky, and relations frosty, the Free Yemeni Army fought alongside loyalist units against AQAP on this front for the remainder of the year.