UAE deploys additional forces to confront protests in Mukalla streets

HADRAMOUT, July 30 (YPA) – The UAE military command has deployed new units to the streets of Mukalla city, the provincial capital of the oil-rich Hadramout, to suppress any nighttime protests demanding improved services.

Source familiar with the matter said dozens of recruits on military vehicles belonging to the UAE-backed Second Military Zone deployed to the city’s various major thoroughfares.

The source indicated that the mission of these military units would was to support the Emirati-funded Hadrami Elite factions in suppressing protesters in Mukalla, who demand that the “coalition-backed Aden government” improve electricity services and mitigate the deteriorating living conditions of the people of oil-rich Hadramout.

The source did not provide further details about these forces, which are believed to be affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)-affiliated leader Abduldaim al-Shaibi al-Dhalei, who was brought to the Barashid camp by the UAE over the past few years from Aden, Dhale, and Lahj.

The UAE has been heading toward military escalation after suppressing protests with live ammunition, kidnapping several participants calling themselves the “Hadrami Movement,” who are demanding self-rule in Mukalla and expelling foreign forces from Al-Rayyan Civil Airport, which the UAE has closed since 2016.

AA