South Yemeni crisis

South Yemen crisis
	Part of the Arab Cold War
	; Army tank during the South Yemeni crisis
Date	13 – 24 January 1986; (1 week and 4 days)
Location	South Yemen
Result	al-Toghmah faction victory Defeat of al-Zomrah faction and their exile to the Yemen Arab Republic; Death of Abdul Fattah Ismail, Ali Antar, Saleh Moslih, and Ali Shayi'; Assumption of power by Ali Salem al Beidh and Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas;
Belligerents
al-Toghmah	al-Zomrah
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Fattah Ismail †; Former President; Ali Antar X; Vice President; Saleh Muslih Qassem X; Defense Minister; Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas; Prime Minister; Ali Salem al Beidh; YSP Politburo member;	Ali Nasir Muhammad; President
Units involved
Dhale and Lahij; Mobilized tribal militias; Northern NDF militants; South Yemeni tank corps;	Shabwah and Abyan; Mobilized tribal militias; South Yemeni Navy; South Yemeni Air Force;
Casualties and losses
	4,000 – 6,000 dead; 60,000 refugees

The South Yemeni crisis, colloquially referred to in Yemen as the events of '86, was a failed coup d'etat and brief civil war which took place on January 13, 1986, in South Yemen. The civil war developed as a result of ideological differences, and later tribal tensions, between two factions of the ruling Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), centred on Abdul Fattah Ismail's faction, at-Toghmah, and Ali Nasir Muhammad's faction, az-Zomrah, for the leadership of the YSP and South Yemen. The conflict quickly escalated into a costly civil war that lasted eleven days and resulted in thousands of casualties. Additionally, the conflict resulted in the demise of much of the Yemeni Socialist Party's most experienced socialist leadership cadre, contributing to a much weaker government and the country's eventual unification with North Yemen in 1990.