STC supporters storm General Assembly Headquarters, attack Aden Al-Ghad

ADEN, Feb. 01 (YPA) – Dozens of supporters of the now-“dissolved Southern Transitional Council, backed by the UAE, on Sunday managed to reopen the headquarters of the so-called “General Assembly” in Aden’s Tawahi district, days after it had been closed under direct directives from Saudi authorities.

Participants in the pro-STC demonstration described the move as a direct challenge to the closure decision issued by the Saudi delegate in Aden, Falah Al-Shahrani, who left the city shortly before the protests began.

The demonstrators chanted hostile slogans against Saudi Arabia and burned pictures of the Saudi king and crown prince, as well as images of the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi.

In a related development, pro-STC activist Salem Awad al-Awlaki said in a post on the “X” platform that the reopening of the headquarters was carried out under instructions from the Saudi-backed governor of Aden, Abdulrahman Sheikh Al-Yafei, but subject to specific conditions.

According to al-Awlaki, the agreement prohibits any political activity inside the building in return for monthly financial allocations to assembly members, as a prelude to its official and final closure in the coming weeks after Riyadh guarantees their financial entitlements.

Separately, the headquarters of the newspaper Aden Al-Ghad was attacked on Sunday by armed men loyal to the STC. The paper’s editor-in-chief, Fathi bin Lazraq, said the assailants vandalized and looted the premises and assaulted staff members who were present at the time.

AA