Giants Brigades lead southern Yemen fightback against the Houthis

Yemen’s Southern Giants Brigades have emerged as one of the leading forces against the Houthis.

On October 5, groups linked to the former Southern Transitional Council (STC), including the powerful Southern Giants Brigades, and troops of the internationally recognised government of Yemen, launched a major offensive against the Houthis near the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb strait.

By Monday afternoon, the pro-government force, led by the Giants Brigade, said they had managed to cut off the main road linking the Red Sea port city of Mocha with the Bab al-Mandeb, a vital waterway for energy supplies.

This has seen STC-affiliated groups, some of whom seek independence for the south, ally with pro-government national forces against the Houthis.

Among the leading formations in the recent government offensive led by this alliance are the Giants Brigades, which have their roots in the southern separatist movement.

Formed largely by Salafi fighters during the battle against the Houthis in the southern city of Aden in the first half of 2015, the Giants Brigades have become one of Yemen’s most formidable military forces during the war.

The brigades, believed to have been armed, trained and funded by the UAE, rose to prominence in 2017, leading an offensive that captured large swaths of Yemen’s western coast from the Houthis. The advance was eventually halted on the outskirts of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah following the United Nations-brokered Stockholm Agreement in late 2018.

Al-Muharrami had no known military background before the war, which began with the Houthis’ capture of Sanaa in September 2014, and the group has largely stayed out of infighting between anti-Houthi forces.

When STC forces collapsed following the Yemeni government offensive in January, al-Muharrami flew to Riyadh and voiced support for the Saudi-led initiative to unify southern forces.

Some believe that the Giants Brigades’ previous advances against the Houthis into Hodeidah suggest that the group does not necessarily have a separatist agenda.