The Yemeni army controls Ataq and the separatists are sending reinforcements

A Yemeni military source told Al Jazeera that Yemeni army forces have completed control of the entire city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province in southern Yemen, while local sources reported that the Southern Transitional Council sent military reinforcements to try to control it.

The source added that the legitimate forces were able, after fierce clashes with the forces of Shabwani elite, to control the international road lines linking Shabwa and Hadramout from the eastern and northern sides of the city of Ataq.

A military source said that the National Army has regained the military points linking the city of Ataq and Al-Alam Camp, the second largest camp of the elite Shabwani forces, pointing to the existence of mediation to hand over the camp to the army.

Activists broadcast pictures they said were of legitimate government forces while they took control of Camp Marra in Shabwa, after fierce battles with UAE-backed forces.

For its part, said the Yemeni army staff that it is ready for any emergency in the axis of Shabwa, and confirmed that the morale of its forces at the highest levels.

The Yemeni Chief of Staff Major General Abdullah al-Nakha'i ordered "more vigilance and arrangement of ranks to confront the trainees with the security and stability of Shabwa."

This came during a call by al-Nukha'i, on Saturday, with the commander of the axis of Shabwa Brigadier General Aziz al-Atiqi, and leaders of various military units and formations, according to the official Yemeni news agency.

Reinforcements
On the other hand, local sources in the province of Abyan in southern Yemen that military reinforcements of the Southern Transitional Council heading to the province of Shabwa, in a new attempt to control.

The Anatolia news agency quoted sources as saying that the transitional council collected reinforcements from Dali and Yafa, and that they are heading towards Shabwa, adding that the reinforcements include fighters, military vehicles, weapons and missiles.

For his part, called on the southern commander Hassan Baum to establish a national front and a southern rescue council, and said that the fighting in the south is run according to foreign agendas.