STC militias begin regional displacement campaign in Socotra

SOCOTRA, June 21 (YPA) – Pro-Emirati factions “the Southern Transitional Council” (STC) militias in eastern Yemen have begun a new regional displacement campaign as Abu Dhabi prepares to deploy Sudanese troops on the Socotra island.

This comes just two days after the Saudi-UAE alliance handed over the island to the STC.

Local sources said that the STC militias carried out a campaign of arrests of hundreds of people from the southern and northern provinces and that most of the deportees belonged to Abyan, Shabwah and Mahrah provinces.

It also carried out raids on the homes of Hadi’s government officials and arrested leaders, most notably the commander of the island’s air force, Colonel Abdul Rahman al-Zafani.

The sources confirmed that the move comes in the context of reprisals carried out by the STC’s militias, which included campaigns of abuse and pursuit of their opponents or non-loyalists of the UAE

Sources on the Island also reported that the UAE has begun arrangements to establish a new camp in Hadiboh city, the capital of the province, in conjunction with Abu Dhabi’s notification to the STC’s command about the arrival of Sudanese troops on the island.

The coalition is seeking to turn the island at the intersection of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden into a military base, especially after Hadi officials admitted receiving an earlier request from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to lease the island for a century.

E.M