Seiyun (South24) 

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South24 correspondent in Hadramout Governorate and local sources reported today that the First Military District forces launched a massive crackdown on peaceful demonstrators who tried to reach the city of Seiyun to participate in a demonstration called by the STC.

"Northern forces at military checkpoints assaulted crowds that came from various districts of the governorate by beating them with rifles, and firing live bullets into the air," according to the sources.

The Northern forces arrested the STC director in Do'an district in Hadramout, Abdullah Al-Amoudi, and a number of officials in his escorts at "Borouj" security checkpoint, west of Hadramout. "Al-Ghorfa" military checkpoint in Wadi Hadramout also blocked the entry of dozens of vehicles carrying the participants. Yemeni forces also closed the road linking the cities of Seiyun and Tarim, and established new military checkpoints.

Journalists reported in messages they sent to "South24" that "Wadi Sir" security checkpoint in Al-Qatn district prevented them from passing to cover the demonstration and threatened them to arrest and imprison them.

Later, local activists and residents stated that the pro-Islah authorities in Wadi Hadramout resorted to cutting off communication and Internet networks in Seiyun city to impede the event and to conceal the ongoing activities.

Despite the crackdown, thousands were able to organize a large demonstration in the Sultan's Palace yard in the center of Seiyun. The participants raised the flags of the former state of South Yemen. They chanted slogans demanding the departure of the First Military District forces from Hadramout and their replacement with the pro-STC Hadrami Elite Forces.

Explosive situation

During these events, the STC warned that the situation in Hadramout had reached a point of "crisis," waving the use of force.

According to the STC official spokesperson Ali Al-Kathiri, "the Yemeni military authorities occupying Wadi Hadramout launched a campaign of repression and terrorism against the participants in the peaceful Seiyun demonstration." He considered that "condemnation is no longer sufficient towards these practices", and that " all options for Hadramis are allowed to liberate their land."

The statement stressed that the "reluctance and refusal" to implement the Riyadh Agreement and the transfer of these military forces from Hadramout and mobilize them against the Houthis, would continue to "aggravate the situation," stressing that the STC and the Southern Armed Forces "will only then be with our people in Hadramout."

The leadership of the popular uprising in Hadramout also called in a statement on the Wadi Hadhramaut authorities to "remediate the situation that prevented Hadrami crowds from entering to Seiyun," and warned of an "explosion of the situation."

In a statement, it considered that "what happened in the First Military District military checkpoints" is a "sin that the authorities must rectify before it causes security chaos in Wadi Hadramout."

The departure of the Yemeni forces!

A statement issued by the demonstrators in Seiyun stressed "the continuation of the comprehensive popular uprising that will spread throughout Hadramout districts... until the departure of the First Military District soldiers and forces." The statement announced the demonstrators' support for "the outcomes of the General Hadramout Meeting and the demands of the second Hadrami popular uprising."

The statement emphasized that the "departure of the First Military District forces and soldiers from Wadi Hadramout and Desert as well as the replacement of the Hadrami Elite Forces, is an essential demand of our people that cannot be waived and ignored under any circumstances."

 The mass event in Seiyun, Hadramout. February 12, 2022 (STC media)

The statement demanded "that Hadramout be given its full rights and its revenues share from its ports and oil productions at a rate of no less than 80%". It also called for "the departure and replacement of the authorities that control Al-Wadia border crossing with Saudi Arabia."

Since last November, Hadramout governorate has witnessed an unprecedented popular uprising which led to halting oil and fish exports. These demonstrations came after a meeting that brought together the most prominent political, societal, tribal and union bodies and figures in the governorate known as the "General Hadramout Meeting" on October 26, 2021.

A committee was formed after the meeting and later adopted the Hadramis' demand and present it to the authorities. They also claim that "Hadramout will remain a single military region led by the Hadrami Elite Forces." In addition to their demand to stop "looting" the governorate's resources and to call on the government to implement its economic obligations. 

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South24 Center for News and Studies 

Photo: The mass event in Seiyun, Hadramout. February 12, 2022 (STC media)