Coalition responds to Sanaa’s initiative to re-open Aqabat Tharah road
ABYAN, July 01 (YPA) – The coalition-backed local authorities in Abyan province, south of Yemen, responded to the latest humanitarian initiative the Sanaa-based government launched in early April to alleviate the suffering of travelers.
Southern media outlets said that the so-called military and security committee in Abyan agreed to open the Aqabat Tharah road linking Abyan and Sanaa, via Lawdar district to Al Bayda province, after refusing to re-open the road for months.
The sources explained that the committee had assigned construction equipment to Abyan to remove obstacles in preparation for reopening the road during the coming days.
Meanwhile, Sanaa-run authorities in Bayda has been completing the necessary arrangements to officially reopen the road, aiming to alleviate the suffering of citizens.
This comes after the other side’s intransigence since unilaterally announcing the reopening of the road last year, and then re-advancing it during the holy month of Ramadan.
The UAE-funded Southern Transitional Council (STC) leaders had refused to open the Aqabat Tharah road, considering it a forward front with Sanaa forces, after they accused the sheikhs and dignitaries of Lawdar district and Abyan of what they called a “conspiracy” with Sanaa forces to control the southern provinces, prompting military reinforcements to be dispatched to the district.
The coalition-backed authorities in Abyan agreed to open the Tharah road following a popular demonstration in Lawdar by residents of the province’s districts in early June. Participants demanded the opening of the Aqabat Tharah road, similar to the STC’s approval to open the Damt-Dhalea road.
Over the past few months, the sheikhs and dignitaries of Lawdar and the rest of Abyan districts have been pressuring the coalition-affiliated authorities and the STC leadership to accept the Sanaa-based humanitarian initiative.
This followed a meeting held in Lawdar last month, during which the sheikhs requested an “emergency” meeting with the pro-coalition Abyan governor to approve the reopening of the road, following the intransigence of the STC leadership.
AA