Political statement on Army Day in the South

O Proud people of the South:

Heroic personnel of the Southern Armed Forces

 

Today, the first of September, we celebrate Southern Army Day, an occasion that carries many national values, principles, and fundamentals that are deeply rooted in history.

Since its formation, the Southern Army has represented a symbol of patriotism, sovereignty, strength, and stamina for the homeland and the people of the South, coalescing behind its command.

Since the founding of the National Army of the South on September 1, 1971, following the independence of the State of the South from British colonialism in November 1967, its personnel have made ultimate sacrifices to protect and defend the South and the highest national interests of its people, embodying the national spirit and loyalty to Arabs and the homeland, working hard to achieve stability and internal peace, and enhancing international peace and security.

The Southern Army was a fighting establishment with a national doctrine, led by highly trained and well-qualified national military officers, and highly equipped, which enabled it to meet all the challenges encountered by the South and its people with flying colours.

Given the importance that the Southern Army represented as a southern national institution, from the first months of so-called unification," it was subjected to targeting and hatched conspiracies, and its affiliates were the target of systematic assassinations and laying off, before the entire army and its cadres were subjected to demobilization and exclusion by the Sana’a regime after the invasion of the South on the seventh of Black July 1994.

 

O heroic fighters:

While celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the valiant Southern Army, we remember with pride and reverence the national sacrifices made and still being made by our Southern Army both in the past and present, highly appreciating those precious efforts and sacrifices.

The southern military institution, which is being rebuilt today, inspired by the heroism and valor of the former southern army and representing a natural extension of it and its victorious path, is a fundamental pillar of security and stability throughout the land of the South and the entire region, and it is the bet of the nation and the people to protect the southern victories and gains and confront all the threats of invasion and terrorism facing our homeland.

While we salute the positions and roles of the military establishment, which extends over a long decade, we do not forget the free men of officers and personnel of our southern army who ignited the spark of the southern liberation revolution, through the associations of military retirees that created heroic epics by peacefully confronting the injustice and tyranny of the North Yemeni occupation of the South, strongly rejecting the policies of racial exclusion and layingoffs that were practiced against our people, this is the policy that represented the title of the post-failed unity project that culminated in the "Sanaa regime's occupation" of the South in the summer of 1994, and the subsequent committing of the most heinous crimes against the South, its homeland, people, land, and institutions, most importantly the security and military establishment.

 

O heroes of our valiant armed forces stationed in all pickets of honour:

Today, we have made great strides in rebuilding the institutions of the Southern Army with painstaking and arduous efforts, and the construction is still continuing with merit and effort until our army regains its institution, its glory, and all its strength to carry out its national tasks locally and in the Arab world alongside our brothers in the Arab coalition to protect Arab national security and maintain regional and international security and stability.

 

Our brave heroes:

Today, the Southern Armed Forces are presenting honorable national role models, making huge sacrifices to defend the land and homeland against the terrorist Houthi invasion on various border fronts, and embodying heroic epics in combating the terrorist organizations and groups that are alien to our homeland. These forces are also still facing a number of challenges in confronting the forces of tyranny and terrorism. And extremism, constantly achieving gains after gains under the leadership of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and with the support of the Arab coalition countries, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in an effort to achieve the goals of international peace and security in the region and the world.

We seize this opportunity to call on all affiliates of our heroic armed forces, along with all the people of the South, to adhere to the well-seated values of the national spirit, steadfastness, and preservation of social peace; to work with the doctrine of reconciliation and cooperation to overcome the challenges facing the southern homeland; and to continue the uncompromising struggle towards freedom and to restore the complete independence of the fully sovereign state of the South.

 

O men of our valiant armed forces:

Today, you are required to be inspired by the experience of your fathers, to project the highest levels of commitment and military discipline, to be keen on serious drilling, to acquire knowledge and experience, to fight the contemporary joint battle, to possess high morale, to exercise military and security vigilance, to thwart all hatched intrigues and conspiracies, and to achieve the victory of the will of the people of the South.

Again, we renew our congratulations on the occasion of Army Day in the South, salute and pay tribute with great respect to all its affiliaes for their decisive role and ultimate sacrifices in defending the homeland and its dignity and maintaining security and stability, and pray for mercy to the souls of the blessed martyrs of our armed forces who sacrificed their precious souls and pure blood for the homeland in the various stages and all the crucial turns that our beloved South went through.

 

Much appreciation to you, and further progress and success in your noble tasks.

Long live the southern armed forces.

Long live the South, free and proud.

 

Issued by:

Southern Transitional Council (STC).