Tareq Saleh is a nephew of former Yemeni Pres. Ali Abdullah Saleh (1990–2012; previously president of North Yemen [1978–90]), a commander of the National Resistance Forces (NRF) paramilitary, and a member of the Presidential Leadership Council of the internationally backed government in Aden. He commanded the presidential guard when his uncle was president of Yemen and, when Ali Abdullah Saleh was ousted in 2012, he led members of Yemeni security that remained loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh. The NRF is considered the most professional force in the Yemeni Civil War.
At the start of the Yemeni Civil War in 2014, Tareq Saleh joined his uncle in backing the Houthi movement against the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. The alliance with the Houthi movement lasted until 2017 and Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed during the fallout. Tareq Saleh and his NRF paramilitary then joined government forces in fighting the Houthi rebels and gained the backing of the United Arab Emirates. He nonetheless maintained some distance from the Hadi government, at times siding with the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) when it would feud with Hadi. In 2022 the war settled into a ceasefire, with the NRF controlling the Tihāmah region that included the port city of Mokha and Perim (Mayun) Island and overlooked the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Days after the ceasefire, Hadi stepped down and handed executive power to a newly formed Presidential Leadership Council, which included major power brokers such as Tareq Saleh.
In January 2026 the United Arab Emirates withdrew its forces from Yemen, removing essential support for Tareq Saleh and the NRF. In September the NRF collapsed as Houthi fighters rapidly moved into the Tihāmah region and dislodged Tareq Saleh’s forces. Saleh subsequently met with Saudi officials in a bid for closer ties and restructuring the NRF.