The Ministry of Defense (MoD; ) is a government ministry of Yemen that is responsible for the Yemeni Armed Forces. The incumbent Minister of Defense is general Taher al-Aqili, who was appointed in February 2026. The main headquarters of the Ministry is in Sana'a.
Authority According to the constitution of Yemen, the President of Yemen serves as the commander-in-chief of Yemen Armed Forces and is responsible for appointing the defense minister. On 19 December 2012, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, issued a presidential decree to restructure the armed forces into five main branches: the air force and the air defense, the Navy and coastal defense, the land forces, the border guard, and the strategic reserve. The decision included also the division of the military field across the country into seven military regions.
Military regions
1st Military Region in Seiyun, Hadhramaut. 2nd Military Region in Mukalla, Hadhramaut. 3rd Military Region in Marib governorate. 4th Military Region in Aden. 5th Military Region in Hajjah. 6th Military Region in Amran. 7th Military Region in Dhamar.
List of ministers of defense +NoNamePortraitTook officeLeft officePolitical affiliation1Haitham Qasem Taher24 May 199030 May 1994Socialist 2Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi30 May 19903 October 1994GPC3Abdulmalik al-Sayani6 October 199415 May 1997GPC4Mohammed Dhayfulla Mohammed15 May 199716 May 1998GPC5Abdullah Ali Alewa4 April 200116 May 20036Mohammed Nasser Ahmed11 February 20061 November 2014GPC7Mahmoud al-Subaihi8 November 20146 November 20188Mohammed Ali al-Maqdashi7 November 201828 July 20229Mohsen al-Daeri28 July 20228 January 202610Taher al-Aqili6 February 2026Incumbent
See also Yemeni Armed Forces National Defence Council (Yemen)
References