Coup Atlas Research Database
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67808161975ConspiracyMilitary coup

Yemen Arab Republic, 1975 — military coup conspiracy

Yemen Arab Republic (YAR)Western Asia, AsiaAugust 16, 1975

Event Summary

This entry is coded 16 August 1975, during President Ibrahim al-Hamdi's aggressive centralization of the North Yemeni state and his campaign against the power of the tribal sheikhs. Al-Hamdi had taken power in the bloodless June 1974 Military Command Council coup that ended civilian rule in the Yemen Arab Republic, and he launched a Revolutionary Corrective Initiative aimed at building a strong central state and reducing the influence of the large tribes in political life and in the army. He removed the influential tribal figure Sinan Abu Luhum from army leadership and pushed rivals off the command council.

Just weeks before this date, on 27 July 1975, a day dubbed Army Day, al-Hamdi issued decrees removing several tribal sheikhs from military leadership and carried out a broad reorganization of the armed forces. These moves provoked resistance from tribal power centers bordering on rebellion. The August 1975 coding sits in this period of intense factional conflict and plotting around al-Hamdi's mid-1975 army purges.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Al-Hamdi survived this period and continued centralizing power until his assassination in October 1977
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Ibrahim al-Hamdi (MCC leader, target)
Tribal sheikhs removed from army leadership
Sinan Abu Luhum (influential tribal figure ousted from army)

Sources

On 27 July 1975, a day dubbed Army Day, al-Hamdi issued decrees removing several tribal sheikhs from military leadership and carried out a broad reorganization of the armed forces.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Revolutionary Corrective Initiative open source ↗
Al-Hamdi made decisions that overthrew many leaders representing the traditional centres of power in the army and security apparatus and removed many tribal sheikhs from positions of power to reduce the influence of traditional power centres.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: June 13 Corrective Movement open source ↗
Al-Hamdi removed potential competitors from the command council, including early supporters from the Bakil tribe, and removed the influential Sinan Abu Luhum from army leadership.
SOURCE REVIEWED Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies: Presidential Councils in Yemen open source ↗
Al-Hamdi's radical reforms to eliminate tribal influence caused discontent among conservative circles and tribal sheikhs who profited from the old order, and the tribes responded with virtual rebellion.
SOURCE REVIEWED Encyclopedia.com: Yemen Arab Republic open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete plot is precisely dated 16 Aug 1975 in the sources located this session; the coding sits weeks after al-Hamdi's 27 July 1975 Army Day purge of tribal sheikhs from the military, in a period of tribal resistance bordering on rebellion. Context with strong framing. First Yemen Arab Republic record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
67808161975

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Al-Hamdi survived this period and continued centralizing power until his assassination in October 1977.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

New York Times

“A Coup Attempt Cited in Yemen,” August 17, 1975

South China Morning Post

“Plot Failed,” August 17, 1975

Washington Post

“Around the World: N. Yemen Plot,” August 17, 1975

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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