Since the start of the current civil war in 2014, the armed forces have been divided; at first between loyalists of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and pro-Yemeni government forces of president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi; as of 2024, between the internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), and the Houthi-led Supreme Political Council (SPC).

The origins of the modern-day Yemeni military can be traced back to the late 19th century when Turkish Ottomans began recruiting tribal levies to create four battalions of gendarmerie and three cavalry regiments.

Aware of the gains made by the Hashemites in the course of the Arab revolt, a combination of these forces - all of which held strong ties to various local tribes - rebelled against the Ottoman rule in Yemen during the First World War.

By that time, Imam Yahya kept a cadre of 300 Ottoman officers and soldiers to train his army, which - while remaining an outgrowth of the tribal levies that functioned as little more than a palace guard - was officially organized as follows: During the early 1920s, an ammunition factory was constructed in Sana'a by a Yugoslavian (or German) and an Australian.

Egyptian advisers needed to form a unified military command, so the following bodies were established: Post-civil war recovery of North Yemen proved extremely problematic.

Controlled by the government, the military's logistical system was not only dependent on Sana'a's trust in the loyalty of local commanders, but also subject to graft and corruption.

In an attempt to improve the situation, the commander-in-chief of the North Yemeni armed forces, colonel Hassan Al-Amri, visited Prague to request military aid.

Fearing another coup attempt, Amri then reorganised the military so that control over combat units was exercised by corps commanders for infantry, armour and artillery - irrespective of their geographic area of responsibility.

He also created the General Reserve Force under the command of Colonel Ibrahim Al-Hamdi, and the Republican Guard, both of which consisted of about 7,000 troops of acknowledged loyalty to the government.

In another attempt to improve the situation, President Iryani visited Moscow and requested additional military aid, including deliveries of MiG-17 fighter-bombers, in December 1971.

A year later, three battalions of the Hadrami Bedouin Legion - an internal security force in the former Eastern Aden Protectorate - were integrated into the FRA.

Therefore, when the British hurriedly negotiated a transfer of power to the National Liberation Front (NLF) as the dominant political force in the FSA in November 1967, the new government was able to reach back upon a well-trained and organised, even if small, army.

In June 1969, a radical Marxist wing of the NLF gained power in Aden and on 1 December 1970, the country was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

Subsequently, all political parties were amalgamated into the NLF - renamed the United National Front - or banned, while the government established very close ties to Moscow.

While officially befriending both governments in Sana'a and Aden, Moscow subsequently took over the duty of assisting the military build up of South Yemen only.

As relations with Moscow grew ever stronger, a much larger Soviet Military Advisory Group - headquartered in Aden and commanded by a Major General - was established in early 1969.

The first attack took place on June 8, 1963 against Kawma, a village of about 100 inhabitants in northern Yemen, killing about seven people and damaging the eyes and lungs of twenty-five others.

On May 10, the twin villages of Gahar and Gadafa in Wadi Hirran, where Prince Mohamed bin Mohsin was in command, were gas bombed, killing at least seventy-five.

Casualty estimates vary, and an assumption, considered conservative, is that the mustard and phosgene-filled aerial bombs caused approximately 1,500 fatalities and 1,500 injuries.

[7] On 17 September, at least one rebel soldier was killed in clashes with loyalists in Sanaʽa near the city's central square, trying to protect the protest camp there from security forces.

[8] After anti-government tribesmen overran a loyalist army base north of Sanaʽa on 20 September, capturing 30 soldiers, the government responded with airstrikes killing up to 80 civilians.

After Hadi's decision to increase fuel prices and remove diverse subsidies, the Houthis began an advance on all Yemeni provinces to complete the takeover of Yemen.

After problems in Egypt, Saudi Arabia was forced to declare the Moslem Brotherhood a terrorist organization and withdraw their support from the Islah party in Yemen.

After this, the surviving elements of the Islah party's militia, the presidential guard, and remnants of military units loyal to Hadi decided to fight.

Violence reached its peak in the capital when the Houthis launched their last power grab when they drove out the presidential guard from the presidential compound and secured camp Bilad Al Rus, the main base of the MBG (Missile Batteries group) as well as Al Daylami Air Base and the Ministry of defense building in Sanaʽa.

[10][11] Beginning in October 2015, the Saudi-led coalition transitioned from direct fighting to providing support and training for Yemeni forces loyal to President Hadi's government.

They helped form a new Yemeni National Army (YNA), which they trained at the Al Anad Air Base in the Lahij Governorate.

[5] Yemeni Army troops fought in Taiz against the Houthi forces, seizing control of several districts in the city in late April 2017.

Approximately 50,000 constituted the Central Security Organization of the Ministry of Interior; they are equipped with a range of infantry weapons and armored personnel carriers.

Yemen was building a small coast guard under the Ministry of Interior, training naval military technicians for posts in Aden and Mukalla.