Confrontations reignited in Shabwa between factions loyal to UAE, Saudi Arabia

SHABWA, June 01 (YPA) – Armed clashes broke out in the Nisab district, the stronghold of Shabwa province’s UAE-backed governor, Awad al-Wazir, amid ongoing security turmoil that has plagued the province since early 2016.

Tribal sources in the province explained that the clashes erupted yesterday, Friday, between armed tribesmen from the Al Saleh bin Abdullah clan and the Al Mohammed bin Abdullah clan in Wadi Dhara in the Nisab district, west of the province’s capital, Ataq, due to tribal blood feuds.

No casualties  or material losses were reported.

The sources indicated that the clashes between gunmen of the two tribes, to which Shabwa governor al-Wazir belongs and who has been residing in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, for the past few months, are the sixth without a resolution to the conflict between the two tribes.

Tensions resurged after a truce signed by tribal sheikhs in mid-April broke down. Accusations have emerged that leaders of UAE-backed factions, reportedly brought in from Yemen’s western coast, have been stoking these tribal disputes and reigniting blood feuds within the province.

The oil-rich Shabwa province has recently become a battleground between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as the latter have begun deploying its loyal “Dera Al-Watan” units and Islah Party-aligned militants at the Arain camp in Arma’a district, with plans to take control of Shabwa’s lucrative oil fields and push out UAE-allied factions toward the western coast.

YPA