UAE has pushed modern weapons to the vicinity of Ataq city, the Shabwa provincial capital, east of Yemen, YPA reported.
Leader of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) and a member of the so-called National Assembly, Wathiq Al-Hasani, said on Twitter that the UAE deployed hundreds of elements of the extremist Al-Amaliqa forces, in Shabwa desert.
He pointed out that Al-Amaliqa elements that brought in from the western coast were reinforced with heavy equipment and thermal missiles, in anticipation of any reinforcements coming from Marib and Wadi Hadramout towards the city of Ataq.
Read also: Death Toll Rises as Armed Clashes Intensify in Shabwa
This came after a decision was issued by Shabwa governor, Awadh Al-Wazir, to overthrow the commander of the Special Forces, Abed Rabbo Lakab, without referring to the Minister of Interior of Aden government, Ibrahim Haidan, which caused the explosion of the military situation in Ataq.
Earlier in the day, violent confrontations erupted between the militants of the “special forces” led by Lakab, and the STC’s militia in the center of Ataq, leaving more than 27 dead and wounded.
