“Shabwa Elite” militia cut off road between Hadramout, Shabwa

SHABWA, March 04 (YPA) – Dozens of the “Shabwa Elite” militia elements cut off Thursday the international road linking between the provinces of Shabwa and Hadramout, eastern Yemen.

Local sources reported that the elite militants blocked the international road near the Balhaf gas facility in the coastal district of Radhoum, which the UAE has turned into a military base on the Arabian Sea since 2016, in protest against their dismissal and the removal of their names from the lists of Emirati rewards.

The armed elements, Who exceed more than 3,000 people, detained a number of tankers and trucks coming from Hadramout via the coastal road and prevented them from heading to Ataq city of Shabwa due to the failure of the commander of the UAE forces and the governor of Shabwa to pay their rewards according to promises to them during last February, according to the sources.

The Shabwa elite members called for a protest demonstration next Saturday in front of the Balhaf facility, which the UAE takes as the headquarters of its military command.

In mid of last February, the elite members, who were dismissed by the UAE, set up a military point in the Balhaf area, preventing trucks loaded with goods from entering the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa.

This comes after the UAE brought in brigades loyal to “Tariq Afash” from the western coast and “Qarat al-Faris” camp, under the name “Shabwa Defense Force”, which extended its control over the districts of the province.

YPA