Recruit of Shabwa Defense Forces killed in Ataq

SHABWA, March. 02 (YPA) – A member of Shabwa Defense Forces was killed, on Sunday, by tribal gunmen in a popular market in the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa governorate in southeastern Yemen.

Informed local sources confirmed that gunmen believed to belong to Al Khalifa Bani Hilal tribes opened fire on recruit Salem Makshah while he was in qat market in Ataq, killing him instantly before fleeing to an unknown location.

The sources explained that Makshah was killed on charges of assassinating Dr. Salem Sa’il Al-Khalifi at Bin Amer checkpoint in mid-2024, while he was returning from the hospital, without any apparent reason.

Reports indicated that the family of the killed doctor had repeatedly demanded that the local authorities in Shabwa bring the perpetrators to justice, but the slow pace of legal proceedings prompted Al-Khalifi tribe to take revenge by their own hands.

Shabwa is witnessing a state of lawlessness and a frightening escalation in the phenomenon of tribal revenge, in the absence of state authorities since the beginning of 2016.