Giants Brigades

The brigades were originally in the former North Yemeni military since the early 1970s. After Yemen unified, these brigades saw intensive action in the 1994 civil war and continued to be an effective unit in the Yemeni military. During the Yemeni civil war, the remnants of this elite unit withdrew to the southern Lahej and Shabwah governarates. They were completely rebuilt with United Arab Emirates (UAE) help and no fewer than three brigades exist in the Al Hudaydah area. They have shown there military power during the Al Hudaydah governarate offensive were they have killed scores of Houthi Militiants. They were fiercely loyal to late former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and have continued to be closely aligned with his family and the Republican Guards unit which were loyal to him. In May 2018 the militia alongside Arab coalition forces took control of several pockets in Taiz from the Houthis, in the fighting several Houthi fighters were killed and several pieces of their equipment were either damaged or destroyed. After taking control of the "Mocha Interception" in the city the militia alongside allied forces including other factions in the National Resistance, the Tihamah Resistance and Yemeni military they began to advance towards the "Bara Junction" to cut the Houthis' supply lines. The commander of the brigades, Abu Zahra Al Mahrami, distanced links between himself and his brigades from the Southern movement and the Southern Transitional council.[5]