Al-Zoubaidi is a former militia commander from the Dhale province who remained loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi during the Yemeni Civil War. He was appointed to be the governor of Aden in early December 2015, after the previous one, Major General Jaafar Mohammed Saad, was assassinated in a car bombing.[1] In early January 2016, he survived an assassination attempt by ISIL when a bomb exploded near by his convoy, and at least one bodyguard was killed.[2]