The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighters hovered over the Socotra archipelago in southern Yemen, opened a sound barrier and dropped warning light bombs over the headquarters of a camp controlled by loyalists of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), according to Yemeni sources.
A local official, declined to be named, added that the Southern Transitional Council still controlled the command of the 1st Marine Corps and that this step was a "warning message to the rebels at the brigade's headquarters to hand it over to the new commander, Brigadier General Ali Ahmed."
Earlier on Saturday, Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi hat Colonel Ali Ahmed appointed as the new commander for the 1st Brigade, Marine Sights of the Second Military Region, which is controlled by loyalists to the Transitional Council.
Last week, the Yemeni President appointed Brigadier Nasher Bajri as Commander of the First Brigade, but attempts to hand him over to the leadership failed after the chief of staff of the brigade and its acting commander, Brigadier Nasser Qais, refused to hand him over to the "transitional" gunmen.
Observers expected that the decision to appoint the new commander would face obstacles in light of the continuation of five brigades from the brigade that rebelled against the "legitimate" government after declaring its loyalty to the transitional council, and their control and the gunmen over the brigade's headquarters.
