Shabwa (South24)

On Friday, the committee, charged with investigating the latest Shabwa’s Incidents, announced a security plan to defuse the crisis in the governorate in its first statement since established by the PLC.

The Committee, led by the Yemeni Defense Minister, stressed the need to reach a cease-fire in the oil-rich governorate and to enforce the PLC’s decisions to appoint new military and security leadership in Shabwa.

The statement ordered “regrouping military and security units which left their camps and merged them into other suitable camps determined by the security committee in the governorate in order to make human and normal inventory and to return all their weapons”.".

The security committee assigned the task of securing the international line (Ataq-Al Abr) to the new Ataq Axis Commander, Brigadier General Adel Ali Al-Masabi. Moreover, the committee ratified maintaining the tasks of the military units around the oil fields.

The statement comes days after the continuous confrontations between the Southern forces affiliated with the local authorities and the forces affiliated with the Islah Party in Jardan District along Al-Abr line which extends to the governorates of Shabwa, Marib and Hadramout. 

Field sources told “South24” that “the Southern forces arrived on Saturday at Jardan Junction where some important oil sites are located after they controlled a number of military points during past days”. 

Ataq, the capital of Shabwa, witnessed fierce battles for three days after some  military and security forces  turned against  Shabwa governor, Awad Al-Awlaki. Later, local authorities accused the Yemeni Islah Party of being behind this insurgency. 

On the other hand, The Yemeni party accused the Shabwa local authorities of alienating a number of commanders affiliated with it and fueling the situation in the governorate. It also threatened to withdraw from “all fields” in case of not deposing Governor Awad Al-Awlaki. 

In a related context, the STC's presidium called the PLC on Saturday to adopt a decisive stance against the ongoing military mobilization from Marib and the 1st Military Region in Wadi Hadramout towards Shabwa".

In a statement, it said that "the insurgent forces seek to destabilize the situation in Shabwa". It expressed its support of the local authorities in Shabwa and Hadramout and the people's right in the two oil-rich governorates to benefit from their wealth.