Data Update: Restructuring of government actors in ACLED's Yemen dataset

On 9 February 2026, ACLED updated its government actor structures for Yemen to reflect the reorganization of forces under the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG), following the dissolution of the Southern Transitional Council (STC). As the restructuring of IRG forces continues to evolve, further actor updates may be implemented as additional information becomes available and this document will be amended accordingly. The current structure below reflects the best available information at the time of publication.

What changed in the data?

Summary: 

In response to the structural reorganization of IRG forces, the coding of state actors has been updated to reflect the transition on 8 January 2026.

State actors in events prior to this date are coded as “PLC (2022-2026),” while those in events from 8 January 2026 onward are coded as “PLC (2026-).” 

Relevant updates include the retirement of STC-labeled government actors and the reassignment of the Giants Brigades and National Security Forces as state actors. These changes reflect the structural reorganization of IRG forces rather than a change in event coverage. 

Data from 8 January 2026 onward (inclusive of 8 January) code the previous government Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) actors with the end date of 2026. Equivalent new actors for current government and state forces have also been added. This includes all government and state forces actors, including:

Removal of STC as a government sub-actor

All actors that were explicitly labeled as STC under the PLC structure (e.g., STC, Security Belt Forces, Aden Security, Lahij Security, STC Facilities Protection Force, and STC-affiliated brigades) were retired. They still appear in the data for coverage prior to 7 January 2026, and can be found by filtering for “(2022-2026)” in the Actor columns. Where these forces continue to operate as state-aligned units, they are now coded under the relevant PLC (2026-) actor but without STC designation, for example Military Forces of Yemen (2026-) Presidential Leadership Council - Hadrami Elite Forces and Military Forces of Yemen (2026-) Presidential Leadership Council - Shabwani Defense Forces

Several formerly STC-affiliated military units continue to operate under IRG command and now appear as state forces without STC labeling, including the Hadrami Elite Forces, Hazm Brigades, Saiqa Brigades, and Shabwani Defense Forces. In addition, elements of former STC security forces were consolidated into a new police-level structure coded under the new actor of Police Forces of Yemen (2026-) Presidential Leadership Council - National Security Forces (see Table 2).

The Giants Brigades actor (coded under the interaction code “Political militia”) is retired for use in the data after 7 January 2026, and is reclassified as a state force under Military Forces of Yemen (2026-) Presidential Leadership Council - Giants Brigades, reflecting its increased integration into formal government command structures  (see Table 2).

Table 2