Escalating disputes in Hadramout coasts foreshadow bloody confrontations

HADRAMOUT, Sept. 06 (YPA) – Disagreements have been escalated among the leaders of the military wings of the coalition-backed factions over control of the coastal strip in Hadramout province, eastern Yemen, foreshadowing bloody confrontations.

A local source familiar with the matter said that the province that disputes erupted between the “Security Support” factions, which the UAE brought in last month from Aden, led by the advisor to the president of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, Saleh Ali Hussein Abu Bakr, known as “Abu Ali Al-Hadrami”, to the Brom Mayfa’a district, west of the city of Mukalla, and the commander of the so-called Al-Ahqaf Brigade in the Second Military Region, Ghaithan Al-Bahsani, over control of the coastal strip.

The source confirmed that the leader of Security Support factions, Abu Ali al-Hadrami, was seeking to seize control of the coastal strip, the theater of operations for the Ahqaf Brigade, extending from the Rayyan area in Mukalla to the Raydah and Qusayr districts in the eastern part of the province.

It reported that Al-Bahsani sent an urgent cable to the commander of the Second Region, and another to the leadership of the coalition, demanding an end to the provocations of the “security support” factions that brought in by the UAE from Aden city, warning of the repercussions of irresponsible steps, in order to preserve the security and stability of Hadramout.

The source explained that the command of the Emirati forces, which have been based at Al-Rayyan Airport since 2016, brought in the “Security Support” units after training them at the Jabal Hadid camp in Aden, for curbing the expansion of the Hadramout Tribal Alliance, particularly after the establishment of the so-called Saudi-funded Hadramout Protection Forces and the declaration of “self-rule” last April.

It clarified that the UAE’s military provocations did not stop at the “Al-Ahqaf Brigade”, but that it had also dispatched a military campaign over the past two days toward the Ghayl Bin Yamin district in the center of the province, in a direct threat to the tribal alliance that it uses as a headquarters for its members.

The source explained that armed members of the Al-Hamum tribes had surrounded the UAE campaign, amidst the ongoing tension between the tribesmen and the elements.

AA