South Yemeni crisis

South Yemen crisis
	Part of the Cold war, and Arab Cold War
	; A T-62 tank in the streets of Aden 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; Assassination of Abdul Fattah Ismail, Ali Antar, Saleh Moslih Qassem, and Ali Shayi'; Assumption of power by Ali Salem al-Beidh and Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas;
Belligerents
al-Zomrah faction of the Yemeni Socialist Party	al-Toghmah faction of the Yemeni Socialist Party
Commanders and leaders
Ali Nasir Muhammad; President	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;
Units involved
Shabwah and Abyan; Mobilized tribal militias; South Yemeni Navy; South Yemeni Air Force;	Dhale and Lahij; Mobilized tribal militias; Northern NDF militants; South Yemeni tank corps;
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.