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.

This screengrab taken from video footage released by the Southern Giants Brigades on October 6, 2026 shows fighters celebrating [Handout/Southern Giants Brigades via AFP]

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.

It was part of a nationwide military campaign aimed at driving the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah or Supporters of God, out of territories under their control, including the vital coastline region seized by the Iran-linked group in September.

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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 effectively gave the anti-Houthi forces one of their first major military gains in years and followed an announcement by Rashid al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), of a major offensive against the Iran-backed group. It also highlighted the effectiveness of anti-Houthi forces – which include units with contrasting political goals – when working together.

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

The collaboration between these two factions follows a high-profile conflict in southern Yemen in January , when Saudi-aligned Yemeni government forces defeated the United Arab Emirates-backed STC, resulting in the relative centralisation of anti-Houthi forces.

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.

The force is commanded by Abd al-Rahman Abu Zaraa al-Muharrami , a Salafi who studied at the ultraconservative Dammaj religious school in the northern governorate of Saada.

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.

Pro-Yemeni government fighters fire during an advance against the Houthis, near Dhubab, Taiz governorate [Handout/Southern Giants Brigades]

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.

In January 2022, the Giants Brigades achieved another major victory against the Houthis, seizing three districts in the southern governorate of Shabwa and advancing deeper into neighbouring Marib. Their offensive came to a halt after the Houthis launched an attack on Abu Dhabi on January 17, 2022.

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.

He joined Yemen’s eight-member PLC in April 2022, around the time his forces adopted the name Southern Giants Brigades, signalling their growing southern political identity. The formation later joined the STC, further strengthening the brigades’ ties with the southern separatist movement.

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.

The Giants Brigades’ involvement in the war against the Houthis is now seen as a test of its political allegiance, with some observers arguing that it remains fundamentally a separatist force.

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

They have also pointed to the group’s spearheading of the latest military offensive against the Houthis beyond southern Yemen, where many former STC units have remained confined, as another sign of its stronger commitment to national unity.

Fathi bin Lazraq, editor of the Aden Al-Ghad newspaper and an outspoken critic of southern separatists, believes that the Giants Brigades would be willing to fight the Houthis anywhere in Yemen.

“These forces are part of the contingent that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015, having been formed in Yemen following the collapse of the Yemeni army,” he told Al Jazeera. “They engage the Houthis from military, political, civil and religious standpoints.”

Bin Lazraq described the Giants Brigades as a powerful fighting force and pointed to their previous operations in northern areas, including Hodeidah and Marib. He also believes that the word “Southern” in their name did not necessarily mean they supported secession or would refuse to fight beyond the borders of the formerly independent South Yemen state.

But unlike Homeland Shield Forces, which were established by PLC head al-Alimi in January 2023 and placed under his direct command, making their allegiance to the internationally recognised government clear, the Giants Brigades operate in a more grey area.

“They do not fight as ‘Southern forces’ per se, but rather as part of the legitimate government forces backed by the [Saudi-led] coalition,” bin Lazraq said. “While they operate under the banner of southern forces, they do not claim to be separatist, or anything of the sort, given that they have fought in Hodeidah and Marib.”

The Giants Brigades, and even more hardline separatist STC-affiliated forces, had come to recognise the dangers posed by the Houthis and the need to ally with government forces to fight the group.

“Everyone believes that the Houthis pose a threat: if we do not go to them, they will come to us. The Giants Brigades and other forces are all united in a single battle to confront the Houthis,” he said.

But accusations that the Giants Brigades have southern separatist aspirations are also not unwarranted. The group’s current offensive is focused on areas within the borders of the former South Yemen entity, including the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Some of their fighters taking part in the offensive around Bab al-Mandeb have raised the former South Yemen flag, and embedded journalists have also shared footage showing soldiers expressing southern separatist sentiments.

A fighter fires a vehicle-mounted weapon during what government forces say was an advance against the Houthis, near Dhubab, Taiz governorate, October 5, 2026 [Handout/Southern Giants Brigades via Reuters]

STC President Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who has not appeared publicly since the defeat of his forces in January, weighed into the debate by offering condolences for fighters killed in the offensive, describing them as martyrs, and criticising what he says is others taking credit for victories by southern forces.

“The South will not allow the victories of its armed forces to be stolen under slogans that do not reflect its reality,” al-Zubaidi said on X.

Anwar al-Tamimi, a spokesperson for the STC, told Al Jazeera that the participation of southern forces in the campaign was focused on capturing and securing the Bab al-Mandeb and surrounding areas, which separatists consider part of the state they seek to restore.

“The participation of southern forces is aimed at protecting and securing the south’s borders, a principle deeply rooted in southern military doctrine and central to the southern cause. Bab al-Mandeb falls within the territory of the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen,” he said.

Al-Tamimi did not rule out the possibility of southern forces advancing deeper into northern Yemen to secure their gains and borders, following similar military operations in the north.

The Giants Brigades remained loyal to the southern independence movement despite their participation in the wider anti-Houthi offensive.

“The Giants Brigades are southern brigades driven by a southern combat ethos, alongside elements of Salafist ideas,” al-Tamimi told Al Jazeera.

“This serves to reinforce the southern national project rather than bypass it. The Giants Brigades are a southern force; they carry the flag and banner of the south, and there is no issue with that. They are part of the southern armed forces – and a very active part at that.”

也门南方巨人旅已成为对抗胡塞武装的主要力量之一。

这张截图取自南方巨人旅于2026年10月6日发布的视频片段，显示战士们正在庆祝。[图片由南方巨人旅提供，经法新社授权]

10 月 5 日，与前南方过渡委员会 (STC) 有关联的团体，包括强大的南方巨人旅，以及国际公认的也门政府的部队，在具有重要战略意义的曼德海峡附近对胡塞武装发动了大规模攻势。

这是旨在将胡塞武装（又称安萨尔真主或真主的支持者）赶出其控制区的全国性军事行动的一部分，其中包括该与伊朗有关联的组织于 9 月占领的重要沿海地区。

也门军队声称在曼德海峡附近取得重大进展（共 3 份清单，第 1 份）：最新情况如何？

问题 2（共 3 题）：也门攻势要想成功需要哪些条件？

也门政府正在对胡塞武装发动进攻（共3条）。情况发生了哪些变化？

周一下午，由巨人旅领导的亲政府武装表示，他们已经成功切断了连接红海港口城市摩卡和曼德海峡（能源供应的重要水道）的主要道路。

这实际上使反胡塞武装取得了多年来首批重大军事胜利之一，此前也门总统领导委员会主席拉希德·阿利米宣布将对伊朗支持的胡塞武装发动大规模攻势。此次胜利也凸显了反胡塞武装——包括政治目标各异的部队——在协同作战时的有效性。

这使得一些寻求南方独立的南方过渡委员会附属团体与亲政府的民族武装结盟，共同对抗胡塞武装。

这两个派别之间的合作源于今年 1 月也门南部发生的一场备受瞩目的冲突。当时，沙特支持的也门政府军击败了阿联酋支持的南方过渡委员会，导致反胡塞武装相对集中。

在最近由该联盟领导的政府军攻势中，主要部队包括巨人旅，其根源可以追溯到南方分离主义运动。

这支部队由阿卜杜·拉赫曼·阿布·扎拉·穆哈拉米 (Abd al-Rahman Abu Zaraa al-Muharrami) 指挥，他是萨拉菲派人士，曾在萨达北部省极端保守的达马吉宗教学校学习。

巨人旅主要由萨拉菲派战士在 2015 年上半年亚丁南部城市与胡塞武装的战斗中组建而成，已成为也门战争期间最强大的军事力量之一。

在塔伊兹省杜巴布附近，亲也门政府的武装人员在向胡塞武装推进时开火。[图片由南方巨人旅提供]

据信，这些旅由阿联酋提供武器、训练和资金，于2017年崛起，发动攻势，从胡塞武装手中夺取了也门西部沿海的大片地区。在联合国斡旋下，双方于2018年底签署了《斯德哥尔摩协议》，胡塞武装的推进最终在红海港口城市荷台达郊外停止。

2022年1月，巨人旅对胡塞武装取得又一次重大胜利，占领了南部沙布瓦省的三个地区，并进一步推进到邻近的马里卜省。2022年1月17日，胡塞武装对阿布扎比发动进攻，巨人旅的攻势被迫中止。

在胡塞武装于 2014 年 9 月占领萨那之前，穆哈拉米并无已知的军事背景，而且该组织基本上没有卷入反胡塞武装之间的内讧。

他于2022年4月加入也门八人组成的巴勒斯坦解放人民委员会（PLC），大约在同一时间，他的部队更名为“南方巨人旅”，标志着其日益增强的南方政治认同。该组织后来加入南方过渡委员会（STC），进一步加强了其与南方分离主义运动的联系。

1 月份也门政府军发动攻势后，南方过渡委员会（STC）部队溃败，穆哈拉米飞往利雅得，表示支持沙特领导的统一南方武装力量的倡议。

巨人旅参与对抗胡塞武装的战争现在被视为对其政治忠诚度的考验，一些观察人士认为，它本质上仍然是一支分离主义力量。

一些人认为，巨人旅此前对胡塞武装在荷台达的进攻表明，该组织未必有分裂主义议程。

他们还指出，该组织带头对也门南部以外的胡塞武装发动了最新的军事攻势，而许多前南方过渡委员会部队仍然被困在也门南部，这再次表明了该组织对国家团结的更坚定承诺。

《亚丁明报》编辑法提·本·拉兹拉克是南方分离主义分子的直言不讳的批评者，他认为巨人旅愿意在也门任何地方与胡塞武装作战。

“这些部队是自2015年以来一直在与胡塞武装作战的部队的一部分，他们是在也门军队崩溃后在也门组建的，”他告诉半岛电视台。“他们从军事、政治、民事和宗教等多个方面与胡塞武装交战。”

本·拉兹拉克称巨人旅是一支强大的战斗力量，并指出他们此前在北部地区，包括荷台达和马里卜的作战行动。他还认为，他们名称中的“南方”一词并不一定意味着他们支持分裂，或者会拒绝在原南也门独立国家的边界​​之外作战。

但与国土安全部领导人阿利米于 2023 年 1 月成立并置于其直接指挥之下的国土安全盾牌部队不同，巨人旅的运作则处于一种更为灰色地带。国土安全盾牌部队明确表示效忠于国际公认的政府。

“他们并非以‘南方武装’的名义作战，而是作为由（沙特领导的）联军支持的合法政府军的一部分参战，”本·拉兹拉克说。“虽然他们打着南方武装的旗号行动，但鉴于他们曾在荷台达和马里卜作战，他们并不声称自己是分裂分子或任何类似组织。”

巨人旅，以及更强硬的南方过渡委员会附属分离主义部队，都开始意识到胡塞武装构成的危险，以及与政府军结盟打击该组织的必要性。

他说：“所有人都认为胡塞武装构成威胁：如果我们不去对付他们，他们就会来对付我们。巨人旅和其他部队已经联合起来，共同对抗胡塞武装。”

但指责巨人旅怀有南方分裂主义野心也并非毫无根据。该组织目前的攻势主要集中在原南也门境内，包括曼德海峡一带。

参与曼德卜附近攻势的一些武装人员升起了前南也门国旗，随军记者也分享了士兵表达南方分离主义情绪的画面。

2026年10月5日，在塔伊兹省杜巴布附近，一名战士使用车载武器射击，政府军称这是对胡塞武装的一次进攻。[图片由南方巨人旅提供，经路透社发布]

自1月份南方过渡委员会（STC）部队战败以来一直没有公开露面的STC主席艾达鲁斯·祖拜迪(Aidarous al-Zubaidi)也加入了这场辩论，他对在进攻中阵亡的战士表示哀悼，称他们为烈士，并批评了那些将南方部队的胜利归功于自己的人。

“南方不会允许其武装部队的胜利被以不符合其现实的口号窃取，”祖拜迪在X上说道。

南方过渡委员会发言人安瓦尔·塔米米告诉半岛电视台，南方部队参与此次行动的重点是夺取和控制曼德海峡及其周边地区，分离主义分子认为这些地区是他们试图恢复的国家的一部分。

他说：“南方军队的参与旨在保护和巩固南方边境，这一原则深深植根于南方军事理论，也是南方事业的核心。曼德海峡位于前也门民主人民共和国境内。”

塔米米并未排除南方军队在也门北部采取类似军事行动后，进一步深入也门北部以巩固其战果和边界的可能性。

尽管巨人旅参与了更大规模的反胡塞武装攻势，但他们仍然忠于南方独立运动。

“巨人旅是南方旅，其战斗精神源于南方，并融合了萨拉菲主义思想的元素，”塔米米告诉半岛电视台。

“这非但没有绕过南方民族建国计划，反而强化了它。巨人旅是南方的一支力量；他们高举南方的旗帜，这一点毋庸置疑。他们是南方武装力量的一部分——而且是非常活跃的一部分。”