UAE-backed armed factions ban popular protests in Shabwa

SHABWA, Jan. 21 (YPA) – UAE-backed armed factions banned on Sunday a protest demonstration demanding the cut of fuel prices in the city of Ataq, the center of oil-rich province of Shabwa, in eastern Yemen.

Local sources familiar with the matter in the city said that “dozens of elements of the “so-called Shabwa Defense” factions deployed on military vehicles with various types of weapons closed the main streets to stop the protests that demand the coalition-backed government to cut the prices of oil derivatives, similar to the city of Marib.

The sources added that the armed elements warned the organizers of the protests not to demonstrate, in order to spread the protests with an unprecedented intensity in the streets of the city.

The UAE-funded authorities deliberately cut off internet services and communications from the city in an attempt to break the coordination between the protesters, the sources said.

This comes after the leadership of the armed factions last week pushed a number of tribal militants to attack the sit-in camp for the people of the Shabwa tribes near the Al-Uqla oil field in the Arma area northeast of Ataq, leaving a number of wounded amid widespread condemnation from the tribes.

Since the beginning of January, Shabwa people have been holding a sit-in near the Al-Uqla oil field, demanding a reduction in gasoline prices at the province, where a 20-litre can is sold for around 25,000 riyals, and 3,500 riyals in the Islah forces-held city of Marib.

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