Yemen Army

The Yemeni army consists of 60,000 troops. The supreme leader of the armed forces is Field Marshal, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the President of the Republic of Yemen.

The army equipment includes:

*Main Battle Tanks: 550 T-54/T-55, 250 T-62, 240 M60 Patton, 70 T-72
*Reconnaissance Armoured Vehicles: 95 AML-90, 50 BRDM-2
*Infantry Fighting Veicles: 270 BMP-1 ,334 BMP-2
*Armoured Personnel Carriers: 70 M-113, 180 BTR-40/BTR-60, 250 BTR-152
*Artillery: L16 81mm Mortar, Panhard AML, 60 M-46,
*Multiple Launcher (Rocket): 122mm BM-21, 132 mm, BM-13, 140 mm BM-14, 240 mm BM-24,
*Surface to Surface Missiles: 6 Scud B, 4 SS-21, 12 Frog-7
*Air Defence cannon and artillery: 72x 20 mm, 200x 23 mm ZU-23-2, 40x 23 mm ZSU-23-4, 200x 37 mm, 120x 57 mm, 40x 85 mm, 225x 130 mm,
*Surface to Air Missiles: 100-200 SA-7, 120 SA-9

Combat history

North Yemen Civil War begun in 1962 and ended in 1970. It took place between the North Yemen republican forces and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. The Royalists received support from Saudi Arabia and Jordan while the Republicans received support from Egypt and the Soviet Union. Saudi Arabia helped to hire hundreds of European mercenaries and at times the Royalists used local tribesmen. The Republicans also used about 55,000 Egyptian troops.

The Royalists were commanded by Imam Al-Badr of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, Faisal ibn Abdelaziz from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Hussein bin Talal from the Kingdom of Jordan.

The Republican commanders were Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Abdel Hakim Amer from Egypt and Abdullah as-Sallal from the North Yemen republic. During the conflict over 50,000 of Egypt's troops were tied down in Yemen, which proved to be a disadvantage to Egypt during the Six-day war in 1967. The war concluded when the Republican forces won, and this resulted in transformation of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen into North Yemen. Over 100,000 died on both sides during the conflict.

References