STC official survives assassination attempt in Socotra island

SOCOTRA, June 16 (YPA) – The head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Socotra island survived an assassination attempt on Tuesday, local sources said.

According to the local sources, the STC chief on the Island, Sheikh Ra’afat Abu Hammam, was attacked by militants loyal to the al-Islah party, as he was returning from the Centre of Goh.
The sources added that one of Abu Hammam’s bodyguards was wounded in the attack.
This is the second assassination attempt when the al-Islah militants tried to assassinate Abu Hammam in early May, one of the sources said.

The city of Hadiboh, the capital of Socotra, is experiencing military tension between al-Islah militants and the STC militias, which are massing their fighters from the Mori area, towards Jabal Hebek, overlooking the capital Hadiboh, according to the sources.

The sources indicated that armed clashes took place between the two parties, at the entrances to Hadiboh, during which the al-Islah militants managed to destroy two military mechanisms, and arrested 12 members of the STC militias, most of them from the Yafa district and Dhalea province.

Earlier on Tuesday, The Deputy Director of Socotra airport, Lieutenant Nasser al-Soqadri, survived an assassination attempt when he was crossing the line between Mori and Hadiboh cities on the island.

E.M