Aden (South24)

The president of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, stressed, on Monday the importance of building a strong southern army in south Yemen. 

This came during Al-Zubaidi's meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Support Brigades, Brigadier General Mohsen Al-Wali, in Aden.

Al-Wali returned from the UAE a few days ago, after a "successful work trip."

Al-Zubaidi praised the fruitful moves made by the leadership of the support brigades, and stressed "the importance of making more efforts to defend the gains and achievements of South, and to confront any conspiracies targeting the just cause of South."

The meeting focused on the level of readiness of the Southern armed forces to face any upcoming challenges, and  praised the security campaign carried out by the southern security services in Aden, aimed at preventing carrying weapons and seizing unnumbered cars.

The meeting "stressed the importance of completing the rehabilitation and training of the southern armed forces, and setting up an appropriate training mechanism, which would contribute to building a solid southern army, armed with combat expertise and knowledge, and under the direct supervision of President Aidarous Al-Zubaidi" Acoording to the STC website. 

Also, Alwali praised all the moves and steps taken by Al-Zubaidi that "aimed at restoring the state of South with its full sovereignty over its entire national borders."

In Hadhramaut, local tribes (Al-Amara) said, at dawn on Tuesday, that government forces controlled by the Islah party in Shabwa governorate "kidnapped" a group of their members, while they were returning from Aden.

The tribes threatened to "cut off the road to oil tankers in the Masila Valley" in Hadramout, if their members were not released. The mens who were arrested are members of the STC.

The Transitional Council in Hadhramaut described this incident as a "dangerous precedent" and "terrorism" and called for escalation.

The delegation of the STC in Riyadh had announced the suspension of the Riyadh Agreement consultations last Friday, after a military point in Shabwa arrested prominent leaders of the STC, before releasing them later, following the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition.

- Photo: Official