ADEN (Dispatches) – Security forces in the southern Yemeni city of Aden arrested 10 members of an Islamic party, the Islah party said on Wednesday.
Aden is dominated by local forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power but is hostile toward the Islamic side.
The arrests could raise tension within the coalition fighting the Houthi movement and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh who seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and drove Hadi into exile.
Islah said security forces raided the home of its number two man in Aden, Mohammed Abdel-Malek, and arrested him, along with a member of the party’s local Shura Council as well as a local commander.
Security forces also closed down the party’s office in the al-Qaloua district of Aden, Islah said in a statement.
A security source in Aden confirmed four people were arrested and claimed the move was related to the assassination of a Salafist imam in Aden on Tuesday by a bomb planted in his car.
The Saudi aggression has killed more than 12,000 people since March 2015. Saudi Arabia has also imposed an all-out blockade against Yemen
Riyadh has turned a deaf ear to all international warnings against the dramatic humanitarian situation in the impoverished country.