Saudi forces arrest several leaders of STC’s militias in Abyan

ABYAN, March 20 (YPA) – The Saudi forces have arrested a number of leaders of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s militias in Abyan province, in connection with the clashes in the city of Zanjibar, the center of the province.

Sources familier with the matter said on Monday that the Saudi forces accompanying the head of the coalition-backed “government,” Moeen Abdul-Malik, arrested the head of the STC’s branch in Zanjibar, Saleh Abu al-Shabab, on the background of the armed confrontations after an failed attempt by STC elements to prevent Moeen Abdul-Malik from going to Abyan University.

The sources added that Omar al-Harish, the director of the public administration in the Abyan district, and the director of the organizational department, Abdullah Barhout, as well as the director of the financial department, Yasser al-Salahi, were also arrested and taken to an unknown destination.

Earlier in the day, the STC’s militias in Zanjibar attempted to assassinate Moeen Abdul Malik, while he was attending a graduation ceremony of the first batch of Abyan University in the city of Zanjibar, leaving a number of wounded.

The assassination attempt on the prime minister loyal to the coalition came under the directives of the former leader of al-Qaeda, Abdul Latif al-Sayed, a leader of the so-called “security belt” of the STC in Abyan.

AA