Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar

Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar joined the 4th Military brigade of the Army of the Kingdom of Yemen in 1961. He was promoted as a first lieutenant in the Mechanized forces of the Army of the Yemen Arab Republic in 1968, and participated in the North Yemen Civil War from 1962–1967, fighting on the Republican side. Then he joined the Yemen Military Academy in 1971 and got his bachelor's degree in 1974. After his graduation from Yemen Military Academy, he was promoted to the rank of captain. He joined Al-Tholaya Institute in Taiz and got a certificate of Battalions Leadership in 1969. He got his Ph.D. from Nasser Military Academy–Cairo in 1974. He continued to get promotions until he became a major general in 2007,[7] A presidential decree issued by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel and he was subsequently appointed as the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Yemen Armed Forces on February 22, 2016.[8]

Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar started his military career in Al-Maghawir Brigade, as a leader of an infantry company in 1970, then he joined the 1st Armored Brigade and became a commander of a tank company in 1975, he became a commander of the independent 4th Tank battalion in 1977.

He was close to Ali Abdullah Saleh since 1973, and when Saleh seized power in 1978, Mohsen was promoted to full colonel in 1979 and given command of one of the Armoured Brigade. In 1983 he became Chief of Staff of the 1st Armoured Division, as well as the command of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. He became a commander of North-Western Military District on 8 January 1995. On 22 January 2001, he was appointed as a commander of 1st Armoured Division and North-Western Military District. He became a President's Advisor for Defence and Security Affairs on 10 April 2013.

In 2004 President Ali Abdullah Saleh assigned him to lead the military operations against the Houthi militia.[9] He served as a chief of the Local Council for Cooperative Development of Sanhan District – Sana'a Governorate in 1975, for three sessions—each one for a period of three years. In 1980 he was a member of the committee of National Dialogue that drafted the National Covenant which was considered the universal document for all political components that were subject to General People's Congress party.[3]

In 1980 Mohsen participated in establishing the General People's Congress party, chaired by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and he was a member of the Standing Committee of GPC for three consecutive sessions from 1980 to 1989. Afterwards he became a member of the Defense Committee of GPC party.

Mohsen was a primary and effective member of the preparing committee for the Yemeni unification during the negotiation process, and he participated in the integration and restructuring of the Armed Forces of Yemen after unification. He was assigned as a Deputy Chief of joint Yemeni-Saudi Military Committee for addressing the security and military balance between the two countries, and resolving the border issues.

Mohsen is known to have Salafi leanings and to support a more radical Islamic political agenda than Ali Abdullah Saleh. He has powerful supporters in Saudi Arabia and has aided the Saudis in establishing Wahhabi/Salafi institutions in the Zaydi heartland of Sa'dah[10] creating internal tension.[11]

On April 3, 2016, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi appointed Mohsen to the position of Vice President of Yemen. Mohsen has been serving the nation of Yemen in that capacity ever since.[12] After he was appointed Vice President, he played an important role in activating the fighting fronts against the Houthis and Saleh, as well as supervising many battles including Marib, Midi, Taiz and Shabwah.[13]

In October 2017, Mohsen as Vice President of Yemen headed a meeting for the Security Taskforce, an offshoot of the Friends of Yemen Group that formed to lead the fight against terrorism in Yemen. The agenda of the meeting focused on the latest developments in the country and the progress of the task force's work.[14] Since then, Ali Mohsen become the head of counter-terrorism group in Yemen that include the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Mohsen shared with the group efforts in transferring expertise in security, military and intelligence fields to the ground and coordination for building military units to fight terrorism and clamp down on smugglers.[14]

According to ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski, Mohsen was a major beneficiary of diesel smuggling and amassed a fortune in the smuggling of arms, food staples, and consumer products. Together with Sheikh Abdullah al Ahmar's sons and Ali Abdullah Saleh, were making millions working the diesel smuggling and black market, using military vehicles and National Security Bureau and Central Security Organization staff to move the fuel to markets in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.[15] This accusations are absolutely denied by Mohsen: the favoritism and the smugglings operations was a common defect in the army units and the decision to fight that was under the authority of President Saleh", Mohsen pointed out.[16]

Following the Houthi takeover of the Yemeni capital Sana'a, it was rumored that Sadiq al-Ahmar, members of the al-Ahmar family and Hashid tribal elders fled Yemen to Saudi Arabia or Qatar. But Sadiq appeared in a videotape later in Sana'a and was still there.[23] Mohsen was also believed to have sought refuge in either Saudi Arabia or Qatar. However, he noticed that the Saudi Embassy in Sana'a prepared a helicopter and coordinated his departure to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia following the Houthi ascension to power.[24][25] His absence has seen his homes in the Hadda neighborhood of Sana'a seized by Houthi fighters.