Lawdar tribes declare uprising against leader Al-Hajouri

ABYAN, Aug. 21 (YPA) – Residents of Lawdar district of Abyan province, south of Yemen, prevented the extremist Salafi leader Yahya Al-Hajouri, who is loyal to the coalition, from arrival in the city.

A source famalar with the matter said that a group of Lawdar residents confronted “Al-Hajouri”, who was accompanied by an armed force, on Wednesday.

The source said that the armed elements accompanying Al-Hajouri fired bullets into the air in an attempt to intimidate citizens who were trying to prevent them from reaching the district at gunpoint.

It pointed out that Al-Hajouri and his armed men had retreated towards one of the most important extremist Salafist centers north of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province.

According to other sources, the headquarters of the extremist Salafi groups in the northern city of Ataq was located in a heavily guarded area.

Sources believed these centers were breeding grounds for terrorist elements from Al-Qaeda and ISIS, amid local demands for their removal from Shabwa and the rest of the southern provinces.

This comes amidst Yafa residents’ rejection of the establishment of a center for Salafist groups loyal to al-Hajouri, whom they describe as a takfiri, in the lands of Mukil al-Saadi, which could lead to fighting between the people of Yafa.

AA