Protest march in Abyan calls for re-opening of Aqabat Tharah road

ABYAN, Aug. 21 (YPA) – A protest march was launched on Thursday in the city of Lawdar district of Abyan province, demanding that the coalition-affiliated local authorities open the Aqabat Tharah road to travelers.

Protesters marched toward the Aqabat Tharah road, which connects Sanaa-held Bayda with Abyan, calling for inaugurating and maintaining the road through popular community efforts, following the failure of the pro-coalition Abyan authorities to do so since last month.

Local authorities and the leadership of pro-coalition factions in Abyan have refused to reopen the Aqabat Tharah road since the Sanaa-affiliated authorities in Bayda inaugurated the road’s re-opening and removed all obstacles to travelers last August.

On the other hand, a source familiar with the matter said that local authorities and pro-coalition military leaders, who belong to Salafi groups, refused to reopen the road, amid accusations that t”he sheikhs and dignitaries of Lawdar and the central regions, who are demanding the road’s opening, are treasonous and conspiring with Sanaa forces to seize control of Abyan”.

The source confirmed that the leadership of the UAE-funded Southern Transitional Council (STC) factions had, over the past two days, transferred all members of the so-called “Security Belt” in Lawdar and the central regions to Aden, replacing them with members from areas pf Dhalea and Lahj province, south of Yemen, in a move was described as “regional” against the people of Abyan, highlighting a lack of trust in them.

It pointed out that the replacement of recruits from Abyan with other elements from the provinces of Dhalea and Lahj aimed to establish new collection points, in conjunction with the opening of the Aqabat Tharah road to travelers.

AA