The Armed Forces was renamed as the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen Armed Forces. Subsequently, all political parties were amalgamated into the NLF - renamed the United National Front - or banned, while the government established very close ties to Moscow. Curious to obtain a foothold from which it could control and influence developments in the Red Sea, Arabian sea and Horn of Africa, as well as enhance its capacity to monitor US and allied activities in the Middle East and bolster its own military presence, the Soviet Union grabbed the opportunity. While officially befriending both governments in Sana'a and Aden, Moscow subsequently took over the duty of assisting the military build up of South Yemen only. In the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, this process came forward at a more significant rate than in North Yemen - not only because of the better training local armed forces had earlier received from the British, but also because the United National Front was ideologically opposed to tribalism and did its best to eradicate it. The build-up was further bolstered by the arrival of Soviet advisors in 1968. As relations with Moscow grew ever stronger, a much larger Soviet Military Advisory Group - headquartered in Aden and commanded by a Major General - was established in early 1969. One Soviet colonel took over command of the air force while another assumed command over ground forces. The latter reorganised and expanded available forces into six brigades of three battalions each (based in Aden, Beihan, Al-Qisab, Mukayris, Al Anad, Al Abr and Mukalla), a signal battalion, training battalion, military academy, military police unit and several minor support units. Furthermore, the Soviets became instrumental in the development of an effective intelligence system based on human and technical resources, and the establishment of an effective logistics system capable of supporting mobile operations, and they also provided advanced training, including for counter-insurgency (COIN) operations. North Yemen Civil War The North Yemen Civil War began in 1962 and ended in 1970. It took place between the northern Yemen Arab Republican forces and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. The Royalists received support from Saudi Arabia and Jordan while the Republicans received support from Egypt and the Soviet Union, using about 55,000 Egyptian troops. The Royalists used local tribesmen. The Royalists were commanded by Muhammad al-Badr of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen. The Republican commanders were Gamal Abdel Nasser and