The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces continue on Saturday transferring large quantities of weapons from the city of Aden, which is under the control of Saudi-led coalition, southern Yemen, political sources said.
The sources confirmed that the STC militia began on Friday to transfer the weapons from Aden towards the areas of Dhalea and Yafea.
According the source, the move came in anticipation of a reversal of the situation in Aden in favor of the Saudi forces or the so-called “the homeland shield”, which were formed from the Salafist and Al-Qaeda groups.
The process of transferring weapons from Aden by the STC leaders, came after the Saudi military delegation requested handing over the STC camps and counting the militia’s heavy weapons to withdraw them.
The city of Aden witnessed on Saturday widespread looting of heavy weapons and smuggled them to Lahj province, south of Yemen.
Media sources reported the large shipments of weapons were looted from the camp of the Fifth Brigade, led by Saleh al-Sayyed, a security director and a commander of the pro-UAE Lahj belt forces, on camouflaged trucks to Yafea area.
The sources pointed out that the smuggling process coincided with the arrangements for the scene in the south, as it came a few days after the start of the deployment of the Saudi-formed forces of the “Shield of the Nation”, amid reports that the Emirati ambassador, Mohammed Al Zaabi, informed the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militias of a new influence-sharing map with Saudi Arabia, the most prominent of which includes the denial of Shalal Shaya and Saleh Al-Sayed from the south.
The sources pointed out that the Saudi journalist, Ali Al-Areshi, had revealed his country’s arrangement regarding heavy weapons within the forces of the Saudi-formed Presidential Council, led by Rashad al-Alimi, also indicating that expectations to withdraw the STC’s heavy weapons and to keep part of them.
READ MORE: Saudi Delegation Visits Aden to Withdraw STC Weapons: Saudi Official
