UAE-backed southern separatists arrest pro-government fighters in Yemen

UAE-backed Yemeni southern separatists arrested the leaders of anti-Houthi fighters, who are allied with the Yemeni government, reports said.

According to a source within the anti-Houthi camp, the members of the security belt of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) arrested their leading members in the Al-Zahir district, south of the city of Al-Bayda, while they were returning from Aden.

The source told Arabi 21 that the security belt arrested the leader of the Al-Zahir Front resistance, Sheikh Abdul-Qawi Al-Humayqani, and his deputy, Abdulaziz Abd Rabbo Al-Humayqani. Abdul-Qawi's son, Salem Al-Humaiqani, was also arrested.

The security belt forces arrested the commander of the Al-Quwa Front, Sheikh Mohammed Ali Al-Humayqani, along with activist Ali Marwah Al-Humayqani.

The source added that the leaders of the resistance in the Al-Zahir front were returning from the headquarters of the Saudi-run coalition in Aden after being summoned by the military leadership of the coalition.

They were heading to the locations where the resistance fighters are stationed in the Al-Bayda governorate and on the border with the youth directorate in Lahj.

The STC are in a power-sharing cabinet with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, which was exiled to Aden after the capital Sanaa was taken over by Houthi rebels in 2014.

The government was formed late last year as a result of a Saudi-UAE deal brokered in 2019.

However, tensions have been on the rise between both sides in the interim capital, with continued clashes, kidnappings, and assassinations taking place.