Sheikhs of Khanfar district in Abyan demand departure of UAE-backed militia

ABYAN, Dec. 19 (YPA) – The UAE-backed militia confiscated large areas of citizens’ land in the Khanfar district of Abyan governorate, southern Yemen.

A number of sheikhs of Khanfar district called for remove the recent establishments and military actions of the UAE-backed militia in the area of “ Al- Mutalaa  and Alsaheel”, and began the work of building fence around  the village of Al-Mutala’ and its surroundings.

A statement issued by Sheikhs, confirmed that elements in the so-called “Abyan axis” affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) have barbarically deployed military vehicles armed with various types of weapons and they drove out the fishermen’s boxes and expelled them from their land where they have been present for decades.

The statement pointed out that those lands occupied by the STC militia are owned by the citizens. They have documents of ownership, which they left during the war against Al-Qaeda in 2011.

According to the statement, the military checkpoints set up by the STC militia refused to let Sheikhs and  citizens to enter to their lands  and asked them to review the leader of the “STC” militia, Mukhtar al-Nawbi, but his security guards didn’t let them  to meet him.

E.M