SANA’A (Dispatches) – The head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed so-called Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) Rashad al-Alimi has ordered United Arab Emirates-backed separatists to stop military operations in the country’s south.
The notice issued to the head of the Southern Transitional Council, and fellow council member, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, and seen by Reuters, is an attempt by al-Alimi to step in and stop an STC campaign against rival factions, including the Islah Party.
Al-Alimi said that all military operations should be stopped until the implementation of a troop redeployment in Yemen’s south, stipulated in a power-sharing agreement from 2019, could be fully implemented.
The divisions within the council expose its precarious nature, with members often ideologically opposed, and only united by opposition to the popular Ansarullah forces, and support from the Saudi-led military coalition.
The STC said on Tuesday that it had launched an “anti-terror” operation in Shabwa’s neighboring governorate of Abyan.
The operation would “cleanse [Abyan] of terrorist organizations”, including Al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda has conducted several attacks across Yemen’s south this year, particularly targeting soldiers.
After an advancement by the Sana’a-based Ansarullah forces in Shabwa in late 2020, the STC and other pro-UAE factions blamed Islah for allowing the advance, and they were forced to wait for the UAE-backed mercenaries to rush to their rescue.
The removal of an Islah-aligned governor, Muhammed Saleh Bin Adio, in December, also cemented the ascendancy of pro-UAE forces.