Press Statement

The Southern Transitional Council is closely monitoring with regret the return of terrorist organizations in the areas of the presence of legitimacy in Abyan, Shabwa and Hadramout Valley with support and cover of the so-called Yemeni National Army and its implementation of a number of terrorist operations, the latest of which was the bombing of the house of the leader of the Rapid Intervention Forces in Al-Mahfid district of Abyan governorate, the leader Jamal Lakmah, as well as martyring two soldiers of the security belt during an armed ambush by al-Qaeda terrorist elements in the Al-Habadh area of ​​the Al-Mahfid district.

The Southern Transitional Council sees an attempt to restore Al-Qaeda and ISIS organizations to their activities in areas where the forces of the so-called legitimacy are evidence that there is no doubt about the close connection between the so-called National Army of the Muslim Brotherhood and these terrorist organizations and their implementation of actions targeting the leaders of the military and security units in the south, as well as security and stability of Southern society in general.

What we see today from the resumption of the activity of terrorist groups comes in the context of the systematic terrorist action targeting the southern national project that has been going on for years with the support of Yemeni political systems and their parties and their security and military tools that harbor terrorism and fuel it with money and weapons.

The southern security forces represented by the security belt, and the Support brigades, with Shabwani and Hadrami elites and their valiant resistance, and by the support of the brothers in the United Arab Emirates, were able to break the thorn of terrorism and bring security and tranquility to various regions of the south, but these achievements went unheeded after recent developments and the return of the Brotherhood’s militias to Shabwa governorate, and Shokra city of Abyan governorate.

The terrorist activity of al-Qaeda and ISIS has returned under the guise of legitimacy, facilitated and supported by its military and security forces.

The Southern Transitional Council considers the return and growing activity of terrorist groups and targeting southern cadres and leaders represent a natural result of what happened in the third invasion of the south in August 2019, and therefore the Transitional Council sees that it’s important by the brothers in the Arab Coalition countries and the international community to put an end to the process of transforming the Yemeni army and security institutions supported by them to institutions incubator and supportive of terrorism instead of fighting it.

The Transitional Council also appeals to the brothers in the Arab coalition, and the international community, which is a partner in the war on terrorism, to provide the necessary support to the southern armed forces and security to continue their efforts in combating terrorism and drying its sources.

While the Southern Transitional Council condemns the endeavors of the so-called Yemeni legitimacy dominated by the Brotherhood, it reaffirms continuing the efforts of the southern armed forces and southern security to combat terrorism and extremism, and reduce their risks for the security and stability of the south and its people, as well as the shipping lines, energy supply, and international interests in our country.

Eng. Nizar Haitham

Official spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council