STC’s member killed, security official injured in bloody clashes in Abyan

ABYAN, Aug. 20 (YPA) – A member of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) was killed and others, including a security official, were injured in bloody clashes on Tuesday evening in the center of Zunjubar city, the capital of Abyan Governorate, southern Yemen.

Informed local sources reported that clashes erupted between the director of the central prison in Abyan, Yasser Al-Jaafari, and a member of the Security Belt factions named Mohammed Al-Kadeh Al-Marqashi, who works as a qat seller near the Dofs station in Zunjubar.

The confrontations led to the death of Al-Marqashi and the injury of Al-Jaafari and a number of his companions.

The sources confirmed that Al-Marqashi shot the prison director due to a dispute between them, wounding him, prompting the prison guards to respond with a hail of bullets, killing him instantly.

They indicated that the prison director and his companions were transferred to a hospital in Aden for treatment, and his condition was described as critical, while the clashes sparked panic among citizens in the area.

Abyan and the rest of the southern governorates are witnessing unprecedented security chaos due to the spread of factions with different loyalties and wings, due to the absence of state authorities since the beginning of the year 2016.