ADEN, Feb. 26 — Protesting officers and soldiers from the 39th Armored Brigade removed their commander, Major General Mohammad Al-Jarbani, from office following mass protests last Wednesday. 

The protesters stormed the office of Al-Jarbani, demanded that he be sacked, and alleged that he had ignored their demands, and that he had failed to respond to constant violations committed against them by armed groups from Al-Hirak Al-Janobi (the Southern Movement) on last day's early Election Day.

One protester said that dissatisfaction with brigade commanders had been escalating for months, and that they hadn't provided care for soldiers wounded in confrontations with Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan.

A soldier who requested anonymity told the Yemen Times that a number of officers and troops had rallied after election day and asked that their commander and his aides be replaced.

The soldier affirmed that brigade leadership had failed to act when armed men from the Southern Movement assaulted polling stations in various districts in Aden.

According to sources from the 39th Brigade that are positioned near Aden International Airport, the Southern Military Region tasked another commander to take charge of the brigade.

Soldiers told the Yemen Times that brigade commanders had not fulfilled their promises and that they had confiscated money allocated for soldiers.

Meanwhile, a number of soldiers and civilians were left wounded when policemen in Aden attempted to open the main road of Al-Mansura on Saturday. The road had been blocked by armed men from the Southern Movement-affiliated 16th Movement for about a year.

Local sources said the soldiers raided the area and managed to open the road for several hours and take down Southern Movement flags, but that their superior officers' orders had forced them to withdraw.

“The armed men later regained their positions, blocked the road, and raised southern flags and posters calling for separation.

In the eastern governorate of Hadramaut, the 27th Brigade rebelled last week against defected commander Mohammad Ali Mohsin, commander of Hadramaut's Eastern Military Region.

Sources from the 27th Brigade said Mohsin managed to contain the rebellion after promising the soldiers that their demands would be met, including financial compensation, within two days' time.

One officer told the Yemen Times by telephone that the unrest had eased. “All problems were resolved, the situations was restored to normalcy, and there's no need for further provocations,” he said.