Units from the first armored division started to withdraw from inside the Yemeni capital Sanaa and its suburbs on Saturday, in a move which comes within the government's efforts to put an end to the presence of forces inside main cities.The 135th Infantry Brigade has withdrawn to new positions determined by the military committee, which was formed under a power transfer deal sponsored by the GCC countries and the West, according to the 26sep.net website.
Pro- and anti-revolution troops deployed to the streets of main cities including Sanaa when the anti-regime protests escalated last year including those from the 1st armored division, which defected to the popular uprising.
The Defense Ministry reported on its website the withdrawal of units from the 1st armored division, whose commander is Ali Muhsen al-Ahmer, comes within the program of the military committee to restore stability and return all forces to their original positions.
President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi
...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh...
has ordered to evacuate the capital from armed forces to help ease all tensions and restore stability, the website quoted Defense Minister, Muhammad Nasser, as saying.
The brigade now has new responsibilities including those to deepen the national unity and back other armed forces to serve the country, the minister continued.
He urged all forces to stay on high alert and work with other units and troops as a team and brothers during the current period.
The military committee has recently started its responsibilities to restore stability and return the situation to normal removing all barricades and checkpoints in cities that were set up during the uprising in 2011.