STC mourns two of its military commanders killed in Dhalea

DHALEA, May 08 (YPA) – The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council ( STC) militia mourned two of its military commanders, who were killed along with a number of its militants in an attack by Al-Qaeda operatives in Dhalea province, southern Yemen.

The commander of counter-terrorism in the STC, Mohammed al-Shubji, and the deputy commander of the Security Belt in Dhalea were killed on Friday evening in armed clashes with elements believed to be affiliated with the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the STC said in a statement .

“There is a plot to export terrorism to the south again, by releasing dozens of terrorist elements from the prisons of the Islah Party in the first military region in the city of Seiyoun of Hadhramaut province,” the statement read.

The STC vowed to continue the battle in order to “eradicate terrorism and all those behind it.”

On Friday, elements believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda infiltrated the border governorate of Bayda with the A Shu’ayb District, and were arrested in the city of Al-Awabel, before a military force arrived and took them to Dhalea and without verifying their identities, STC media reported.

According to the sources, upon their arrival at the Security Belt headquarters in the city, the armed elements began firing at the security forces headquarters, resulting in several deaths and injuries on both sides.

E.M