Former Hadrami elite forces personnel to stage protest in Mukalla

HADRAMOUT, July 17 (YPA) – The former members of the Hadrami elite forces, previously backed by the UAE, are set to hold a large protest in the city of Mukalla, in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province, which is under Saudi-backed control.

Informed sources revealed on Friday, the protest is scheduled for Sunday in front of the headquarters of the Second Military Region in Mukalla, where demonstrators will demand the payment of financial entitlements that they say have been withheld since Saudi forces assumed full control of Hadramout earlier this year.

The sources said more than 2,500 Hadrami Elite personnel were dismissed under what was described as a merger and restructuring process following clashes involving UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces in Wadi Hadramout.

They added that the dismissed personnel have not received their full financial dues and currently receive only a modest allowance of 150 Saudi riyals (about 60,000 Yemeni riyals), a group locally referred to as the Abu Sixty personnel.

The protesters are also seeking monthly incentives comparable to those paid to members of Saudi-backed formations such as Dera al Watan and Emergency Forces, whose allowances reportedly exceed 1,000 Saudi riyals per month.

The planned protest follows the killing of one Hadrami Elite member and the injury of several others after Saudi-backed forces opened fire during a demonstration outside Al-Rabwa Camp in late June, where protesters were also demanding their financial rights.

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