The Special Security Forces ( ar, قوات الأمن الخاصة, Quwwatul Amn al-Khasah), formerly known until 2013 as the Central Security Organization ( ar, قوات الأمن المركزي, Quwwatul Amn al-Markazi), is a paramilitary force in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

under the control of the Minister of the Interior and forms a key part of the Yemeni security establishment. The force was some 50,000 strong , before the

Yemeni Crisis Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and s ...

began, and SSF units are equipped with a range of infantry weapons and armored personnel carriers. The force also has its own extrajudicial detention facilities.Country profile: Yemen

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...

(August 2008).

History

Flag of the Yemeni Central Security Organization

The CSO was founded as part of Yemen's efforts to combat al-Qaeda. Its first Chief of Staff was

Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Major General Mohammed Abdullah Saleh Afash ( ar, محمد عبد الله صالح ال عفاش; 1939 in Sanaa – 14 May 2001 in London) was the first Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Central Security Forces and one of its leaders and the brother ...

. He was succeeded by his son, Yahya Saleh, after his death in 2001. Under Yahya, the CSO became stronger, better paid, and better equipped. Yahya also oversaw the formation of the CTU, which was established with funding and training from the United States. Within hours of the

2012 Sana'a bombing The 2012 Sana'a bombing was a suicide attack on 21 May 2012, against Yemeni Army soldiers practicing for the annual Unity Day military parade in Sana'a, Yemen. The ceremony is carried out every year on 22 May since 1990 to mark the unificatio ...

, an attack by

Ansar al-Sharia Ansar al-Sharia or Ansar al-Shariah is a name used by a collection of radical or militant Islamist groups or militias, in at least eight countries. While they share names and ideology, they lack a unified command structure. *Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen ...

on units of the CSF, Yahya Saleh was dismissed by President

Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi ( ar, عبدربه منصور هادي, translit=ʿAbd Rabbih Manṣūr Hādī Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the pres ...

through presidential decree. Major General

Fadhel Bin Yahiya al-Qusi Fazel in Persian, or Fadhel ( ar, فاضل) is an Arabic and Persian male given and also surname meaning "virtuous". It may refer to: *Michael Fadel (1710-1795), Maronite Patriarch of Antioch *Fazel Darbandi (died 1869/1870), Iranian Shia cleric ...

replaced Saleh as the CSO's Chief of Staff. The Central Security Organization was renamed as the Special Security Forces following a presidential decree on 21 February 2013. On 8 September 2014 President Hadi relieved General

of his command of the SSF, and appointed General Mohammed Mansour al-Ghadra in his place.

Structure

Although nominally part of the Interior Ministry, the CSO under Yahya was largely autonomous, and is composed of two main parts; the Central Security Forces (CSF) and the Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU). The CSF are paramilitary police that secure official buildings and infrastructure, as well as managing the dense network of security checkpoints on Yemen's highways. The CSF is also beginning to undertake covert countersurveillance at likely terrorist targets.Strengthening Yemeni Counterterrorism Forces: Challenges and Political Considerations

Washington Institute for Near East Policy The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or TWI, also known simply as The Washington Institute) is a pro-Israel American think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on the foreign policy of the United States in the Near East. WIN ...

(6 January 2010). In contrast, CTU is a far smaller force, comprising a 150-strong special forces unit that has been successful in undertaking raids throughout the country since 2003.

Criticisms

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

has criticised the CSO, claiming that the organisation utilizes child soldiers and subjects Yemenis to arbitrary detention. Human Rights Watch has also alleged that CSF units deployed nearby had failed to prevent a killing spree carried out by pro-Saleh snipers on protesters in

Sana'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...

on 18 March 2011, during the

Yemeni revolution The Yemeni Revolution ( intifada), also known as the Yemeni Revolution of Dignity followed the initial stages of the Tunisian Revolution and occurred simultaneously with the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and other Arab Spring protests in the ...

.Yemen: Transition Needs Accountability, Security Reform

(6 April 2012).

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Law enforcement in Yemen Military of Yemen