Shabwa confrontations between pro-coalition factions get fiercer

SHABWA, Aug. 09 (YPA) – Violent confrontations resumed Monday evening between the “special forces” led by Abd Rabbo La’kab and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) militia in Ataq city, the capital of Shabwa province, eastern Yemen.

Informed sources said, “La’kab forces decided to confront the Emirati reinforcements, and to resolve the confrontations in Ataq, after the overthrow of a number of leaders by decisions issued by the Riyadh-formed Presidential Council in Aden.”

The sources added that the special forces, with the support and backing of the “30th Brigade”, led by the commander of the “Ataq Axis”, Uzair Nasser Al-Atiqi, are engaged in fierce confrontations against the “Shabwa Defense and Al-Amaliqa Brigades” funded by the UAE, which entered the confrontation beside the La’kab forces.

The sources confirmed that the forces of La’kab took control of a number of military points of the Shabwa Defense and Al-Amaliqa and burned a number of their vehicles.

Other sources reported that tribal gunmen from the so-called “Southern Resistance” affiliated with the “STC” led by Abdullah Ariq, cut off the Nisab-Baihan road, in an attempt to impede any reinforcements from the Baihan tribes to support La’kab forces in Ataq.

The UAE sent military reinforcements, including thermal missiles, during the past few hours, to the desert road in Shabwa to prevent any reinforcements coming to La’kab from Baihan, Marib, and Hadramout.

YPA