Mohsen al-Daeri

'Mohsen Mohammed Hussein al-Daeri After graduating from secondary school in 1982, he enrolled in the Military Academy in Aden in 1983. There he received a bachelor's degree in military science in 1985. After studying at the University of Aden and receiving a diploma in social science in 1988, he returned to military education at the al-Thulaya Institute, where he received a certificate for an infantry battalion command course in 1993 and an infantry brigade command course in 1996. He later completed a master's degree in military science from Sanaa's Command and Staff College in 2000, and a fellowship from the Higher War College in 2008. he rose through the ranks of the brigade to become the commander of a company in 1987 and chief of staff of a battalion in 1989. Upon the unification of Yemen in 1990, he was appointed the operations officer of the 22nd Infantry Brigade.

A wave of several assassination attempts on 25 March targeted Daeri along with military chief of staff Sagheer Hamoud Aziz and Taiz governor Nabil Shamsan. As the former two were returning from a conference in Mokha, their convoy was attacked in al-Wazi'iyah district by a loitering munition. The government blamed the Houthis for conducting the attacks.

Amidst the Red Sea crisis, Daeri communicated the Yemeni government's willingness to help secure international shipping routes from Houthi attacks in a May 2024 article from United States Central Command-sponsored magazine Unipath''. He urged international backers to provide more support for the Yemeni military and to put more pressure on Iran to prevent weapons shipments from reaching the Houthis.

Soon after the United States began an intensified airstrike campaign against the Houthis in March 2025, Daeri said PLC forces were prepared to respond to any offensive maneuvers by the latter, and claimed the Houthis "bear full responsibility for the recent escalation". He later told journalist Jonathan Spyer that the US did not coordinate with the Yemeni government at all during the operation, and that he and other officials were surprised by the ceasefire reached between the US and the Houthis in May. He revealed that amid the campaign, the Yemeni government and Southern Transitional Council president Aidarus al-Zoubaidi had planned an offensive backed by international powers to defeat the Houthis. He lamented the inability of the government to take advantage of the US attacks, but was content with the decision "because the US was going to abandon us."

Daeri remained in Aden as STC forces conducted an offensive in December 2025 which captured the government-held Hadhramaut and al-Mahrah governorates. He chaired an emergency meeting between military officials on 31 December which discussed the events and urged a careful response to prevent further infighting within the PLC. A government counteroffensive backed by the Saudi-led coalition recaptured the two governorates and the rest of the STC's territory in January 2026. It may have also been due him expressing support for the STC and Zoubaidi after the offensive, diverging from the "consensus policy" of the PLC. HIs dismissal "sparked widespread political reactions across Yemen" according to Yemen Online, with commentators warning that it could further inflame tensions within the PLC.

Alleged detention in Saudi Arabia Accompanying a delegation of more than 50 officials from the STC, Daeri departed from Aden to Riyadh on 7 January, just before the government counteroffensive. An anonymous source in Daeri's office told Agence France-Presse on 9 January that he along with others in the delegation were being detained at the Saudi Ministry of Defense complex, and that his family had been unable to contact him since he left Aden.