Yemen Conflict Observatory
Actor Profile
Joint Forces on the West Coast
Updated: 31 January 2024
More information
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Affiliated Actors
ACLED actors affiliated with the Joint Forces on the West Coast:
- West Coast Joint Forces [umbrella actor]
- National Resistance (Guards of the Republic)
- Giants Brigades
- Tihama Resistance
Methodology Links
Coding decisions around the Yemen war
- A brief overview of ACLED’s coding and sourcing methodology for Yemen
- A brief overview of the most frequently asked questions by users of ACLED data
- Guides for using and accessing ACLED data and documentation for ACLED’s core methodology
The Joint Forces on the West Coast – previously known as National Resistance – bring together three armed militias: the Guards of the Republic, the Southern Giants Brigades, and the Tihama Resistance. They number approximately 40,000 fighters. The Joint Forces were established in July 2019 with support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Major General Haytham Qasim Tahir serves as the general commander of the Joint Forces, although Tariq Saleh is reported to be the actual decision-maker. The Joint Forces have a national agenda aimed at freeing Yemen’s West Coast and the northern governorates from the Houthis.
Associated Actors
The Joint Forces on the West Coast comprises multiple actors. Find profiles on each below:
Southern Giants Brigade
The Southern Giants Brigades are an STC-aligned militia led by Salafist leader ‘Abu Zaraa’ al-Muharrami
National Resistance Forces
The National Resistance Forces – or Guards of the Republic – are UAE-backed paramilitary units led by Brigadier General Tariq Saleh
Tihama Resistance
The Tihama Resistance is a political militia advocating for the self-governance of the Tihama region
Interactive Map of Joint Forces Activities
This dashboard encompasses political violence events associated with the Yemen war since the onset of the regional conflict on 26 March 2015. It includes all political violence events in Yemen, and only war-related events in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. By default, the map displays data for the period beginning with the UN-mediated truce, on 2 April 2022, up to the most recent week.
Filters on the left allow users to define a time range and select events involving one or more of the sub-actors affiliated with the main umbrella actor. It is also possible to focus on specific governorates of Yemen and obtain Admin1-level statistics by clicking on the relevant areas on the map.
Note: When an actor is selected, event counts for unselected actors indicate the number of events in the filtered range that also involved that actor.
Joint Forces Leadership
The Joint Forces are backed by the UAE, but they are not entirely subordinated to the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Major General Haytham Qasim Tahir is the Joint Forces’ commander-in-chief. A veteran military figure hailing from Radfan district in Lahij governorate, Tahir was the first defense minister of unified Yemen after 1990. Since 2017, he has widely contributed to the UAE-backed operations on the West Coast. Due to his esteemed reputation, he was elected chair of the military and security committee of the Presidential Leadership Council in May 2022. However, in May 2023, he aligned himself with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and was appointed a member of its presidency. Albeit formally led by Tahir, the Joint Forces resent the strong influence of Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, leader of the Guards of the Republic. Tariq Saleh represents the only UAE-backed faction that is currently not represented within the STC, after that Abdulrahman al-Muharrami – leader of the Giants Brigades – was appointed STC vice president.
Historical background
Since early 2017, the UAE spearheaded a military offensive on Yemen’s West Coast, deploying around 25,000 troops along the Tihama coastline and at a military base in Eritrea. The objective of the campaign was to capture the port city of Hudayda. In December 2017, following the death of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the UAE launched a first military offensive in al-Khawkha and Hays districts, with the involvement of the Tihama Resistance and the nascent Giants Brigades. Meanwhile, in early 2018, Tariq Saleh joined the Internationally Recognised Government (IRG) camp and established the National Resistance Forces (also known as the Guards of the Republic Brigades).
From April to May 2018, the UAE continued Operation Golden Spear and launched Operation Red Thunder. UAE-backed troops – including the Guards of the Republic, the Giants Brigades, and the Tihama Resistance – rapidly made their way up to recapture Hudayda, eventually sieging the port city in June. Efforts by the United Nations led to a halt to the hostilities on 1 July 2018, and paved the way for the UN-mediated Stockholm Agreement which sanctioned a ceasefire in al-Hudayda in December 2018. During this phase, the ensemble of the UAE-backed forces was referred to as the ‘National Resistance,’ but they lacked a unified coordination structure.
The official establishment of the ‘Joint Forces on the West Coast’ took place on 9 July 2019, with the creation of a joint supreme command and a joint operations room. The joint supreme command consists of 11 members, including 10 representatives from brigades of the constituent actors, along with Major General Haytham Qasim Tahir serving as commander-in-chief. However, the Joint Forces have come under the growing influence of Tariq Saleh, who is currently regarded as the primary decision-maker.
The Joint Forces’ operations reached a peak in 2019 but gradually dwindled in the following years. While the bulk of their efforts remain concentrated in al-Hudayda governorate, activity in Taizz has steadily increased since 2020, now representing a significant portion of their activity.
Timeline
- 2018
- Apr. – May | Operation Golden Spear and Operation Red Thunder advance on the West Coast
- 2018
- Jun. | Battle of Hudayda
- Dec. | Stockholm Agreement puts an end to the battle for Hudayda
- 2019
- Jul. | The Joint Forces on the West Coast are established
- 2022
- May | Major General Haytham Qasim Tahir is appointed chair of the PLC’s military and security committee
- 2023
- Tariq Saleh establishes a military outpost on the Bab al-Mandab strait