UAE forces withdraw from Shabwah, Yemeni army controls "transition" camps

The Yemeni National Army has taken control of Azzan, the second largest city in Shabwa, and bases and camps belonging to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in Azan and other parts of the province, local sources said.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the leadership of the UAE forces withdrew from their headquarters in the city of Balhaf on the Gulf of Aden, where there is a strategic port for the export of oil and gas, and after the withdrawal of the UAE leadership to the province of Hadramout in eastern Yemen.

Yemeni sources told Al-Jazeera that the first Brigade Shabwani elite in the Balhaf facility declared his loyalty to the Yemeni government, as well as the sixth brigade of the Shabwani elite forces loyal to the Transitional Council, stationed in the Harad region in the Shabwa desert, and the loyalty of his leadership and accession to the national army and loyal to the local authority.

Yemeni sources pointed out that the government forces took control of the military base of the elite Shabwana in the city of Azan, about 95 km from the city of Ataq, the center of the province of Shabwa, as well as control of elite camps in several districts of Shabwa province, and the sources pointed out that the army forces have taken control of the Directorate Habban and Ramda strategic camp east of the province.

City of Azan
Al-Jazeera correspondent Hamdi al-Bakari said that the control of the legitimate forces on Azan is a remarkable development because it is a strategic area and is located on the old road linking Aden and Abyan passing through Shabwa and Ataq, and from there to Hadramout, and mediate many of the directorates in Shabwa province.

The correspondent added that the control of the National Army on Azan directly reflected on the port of Balhaf because of its proximity to the city as it is only a distance of 94 km from it, which led to the retreat of the forces of the UAE-backed Transitional Council and the withdrawal of the command of the UAE forces in Balhaf.

He pointed out that the ongoing field developments in Shabwa indicate that the legitimate forces control almost 80% of the territory of the province of geographical weight and economic throughout Yemen.

The report added that the government forces control of Shabwa makes it difficult for the Transitional Council forces to control the neighboring province of Hadramout, and his control remains confined in the province of Aden, where he expelled the government forces in the middle of this month as part of its plan for secession of the south from Yemen. What happened in Aden.

The Anatolia news agency quoted a military source that the legitimate government forces advanced towards the junction of Upper Egypt and the Naqba area, and took control of them after limited clashes with the forces of the Council.

The source, preferring not to be named, said that government forces took control of several points in the area of ​​Markha and Salaf on the road between the city of Ataq and the Directorate of Bihan west of the province.

Battle of Ataq
Legitimate forces took control of Ataq (458 kilometers southeast of Sanaa) Saturday after fighting with the Southern Transitional Council, and repelled several attempts by the Council forces to storm the civilian.

Yemeni Prime Minister Moin Abdul Malik visited yesterday with a number of officials and inspected the government forces there. Abdul Malik held a meeting with Shabwah Governor Mohammed Saleh Bin Adio in the presence of Yemeni ministers, officials, military leaders and Saudi officers.

Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maisari, who is participating in the visit, said their presence in Ataq was aimed at getting acquainted with the progress of the battles waged by the legitimate forces against what he called the militias of the Transitional Council.

UAE supervision
In a related context, Yemeni Minister of Transport Saleh al-Jibwani said in a television interview yesterday that the Emiratis are supervising the fighting in Shabwa, and that their aircraft supply militias in Hadramout with weapons, and stressed that the role of the UAE in Yemen is more dangerous than the role of Iran, which faces legitimacy face directly while the UAE exercises Treachery, he put.

The Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday that the command of the joint forces of the coalition formed a Saudi-Emirati committee to work from today to stabilize the ceasefire in the provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, and to complete all efforts and procedures in the province of Aden.

The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates issued a joint statement rejecting what they called accusations and smear campaigns against the UAE against the backdrop of recent events in southern Yemen.