Armed clashes break out near Bab al-Mandab Strait

TAIZ, July. 29 (YPA) – Armed clashes erupted on Saturday among the UAE-backed armed factions in various areas near the Bab al-Mandab Strait of Taiz province.

Sources famlier with the matter said the military forces from the factions of the so-called “Republican Guard Brigades” led by “Tariq Saleh” advanced towards the Bab al-Mandab areas and clashed with the armed groups of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) factions.

According to the sources, the STC’s factions were able to force the “Tariq Saleh” factions to withdraw.

In the first reaction, the STC’s commander of the so-called “Ninth Thunderbolt Brigade,” “Farouk al-Kalouli al-Subaihi,” issued a stern warning on Facebook about the advance of the “Tariq Saleh” factions towards al-Sabiha areas overlooking Bab al-Mandab.

The UAE-held areas of West Coast and Bab al-Mandab have witnessed power struggles between the factions loyal to the coalition to seize the areas near Bab al-Mandab, as part of the struggle for influence between the two arch-allies in the coalition, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

AA