Sources told Al Jazeera that forces affiliated with the UAE-backed Transitional Council are expanding their control in Abyan governorate, while the Emirati-backed Giants forces have also taken control of oil facilities in Shabwa governorate.
Local media affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council stated that its forces had now controlled more than 90% of Abyan, hours after launching a military operation in the southern governorate.
The commander of the Abyan axis, loyal to the council, Mukhtar al-Nubi, stated that his southern forces entered the city of Shuqra (the stronghold of the legitimate government forces), in coordination with the army and security forces.
The sources indicated to Al Jazeera that the withdrawal of the Yemeni army forces from the area came to avoid any armed clashes.
On Monday evening, the Transitional Council announced the launch of a military operation in Abyan to combat what it said was terrorism.
While the advisor to the Yemeni Minister of Information, Mukhtar Al-Rahbi, accused, in a tweet, the council of using terrorism as a cover to eliminate the remainder of the national army and subject the governorate to its full control.
The Yemeni army and the forces of the Southern Transitional Council share control of Abyan, which has witnessed calm since Saudi Arabia announced at the end of July 2020 a mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.
The mechanism included the Transitional Council’s abandonment of the autonomous administration of the southern governorates, the formation of a government of equal competencies between the south and the north, the withdrawal of military forces from Aden (south), and the separation of the forces of the two parties in Abyan.
Skirmishes and accusations are still ongoing between the legitimate government and the Transitional Council, despite the fact that they signed the Riyadh Agreement on November 5, 2019 and entered into a partnership after the formation of a new presidential leadership council last April.
In the neighboring governorate of Shabwa, the UAE-backed Giants forces took control of the oil sectors following an attack it launched on the forces protecting companies and oil and gas facilities in the governorate.
The command of the 21st Mechanized Brigade of the Yemeni army stated earlier that the Giants forces and Shabwa Defense looted properties belonging to the Yemeni Gas Company near the Ayyad oil area, and also accused them of looting the equipment of the protection forces, and the capture of a number of its members.
The command of the brigade said that the Emirati-backed forces "disobeyed the presidential directives not to approach companies and oil fields."
Shabwa governorate has witnessed a remarkable escalation for days, as a Yemeni military source said last week that a drone was likely to be Emirati, targeting Yemeni army sites.