Yemen's military gets restructured

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SANAA, Yemen, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Yemen's armed forces have been restructured, and purged of the former president's relatives and friends, President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi announced.

State television said Wednesday the country's elite Republican Guard, under the direction of the son of former head of state Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been eliminated, and the country's military will now be organized as ground forces, the navy and the air force.

Hadi took control of Yemen less than a year ago, following a year of demonstrations against Saleh, who stepped down in a transfer of power, Middle East Online reported.

The presidential guard, special operations forces and a ballistic weapons unit, the last two formerly commanded by Saleh's son, are now under Hadi's control. Other changes include the replacement of deputy central security forces chief Gen. Yahia Mohammad Saleh, a nephew of the former president, the website reported Thursday.