Hussein Khairan

Hussein Khairan
Minister of Defence of Yemen
Disputed
In office
23 March 2015  28 November 2016*
Acting: 23 March 2015 – 4 October 2016
President Mohammed Ali al-Houthi
Saleh Ali al-Sammad
Prime Minister Talal Aklan (Acting)
Abdel-Aziz bin Habtour
Preceded by Mahmoud al-Subaihi
Succeeded by Mohamed al-Atifi
Personal details
Born 1952-1953
Arhab District, Sana'a Governorate
Military service
Allegiance  Yemen
Service/branch Yemen Army
Rank Major general[1]
Unit 1st Marine Infantry Division
Commands 1st Marine Infantry Division 1993-2014
*Khairan's term has been disputed by Mahmoud al-Subaihi.

Hussein Nagi Khairan (Arabic: حسين ناجي خيران), born in Arhab District, is a Yemeni military officer. He served as defence minister, until November 2016, for the Houthi-appointed government of Yemen, having been appointed on 22 March 2015 after the defection of Mahmoud al-Subaihi to the internationally recognised government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Aden. According to a Houthi political official, Khairan's appointment placed him in direct command of all military units except for those loyal to Hadi.[2] He reportedly took charge of the military offensive against Hadi's holdouts in southern Yemen.[1]

Khairan previously served from 1993 to 2014 as commander of the 1st Marine Infantry Brigade on Socotra.[2] In December 2014, Hadi named him as chief of staff of the Yemen Army.[3] However, the Houthi militants that occupied Sana'a earlier that year blocked him from entering the defence ministry.[4] Hadi officially fired Khairan as army chief of staff on 5 April, weeks after he switched sides to join the Houthis' ranks.[5]

He was reported to have been killed on October 8, 2016 during the Sanaa Funeral Bombing.[6][7]

His death was then denied.[8]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.