At least 5 killed and many injured as Yemeni security forces break up separatist protest

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — At least five people have died in clashes between supporters of Yemen’s main separatist group and local security forces, with more than two dozen others injured, officials and separatists said on Wednesday.

Eshraq al-Maqtari, the newly appointed legal affairs minister in Yemen’s internationally recognized government, wrote on X that the Shabwa governorate has experienced “painful events.”

The clashes erupted when supporters of Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council stormed the governorate’s local administrative authority building in the city of Ataq, during which an attempt was made to take down the Yemeni flag, eyewitnesses Khaled al-Merfedi and Salem Lahtal told The Associated Press.

They said local security forces quickly regained control of the building, secured it, and deployed throughout the surrounding area.

“Hope rests on the leaders, elites, youth, and women of Shabwa to resolve this tension, in which the only losers are the lives, safety, and security of its citizens. The interests of Shabwa must be prioritized above all narrow interests,” al-Maqtari said.

The STC branch in Shabwa confirmed in a statement the deaths of the five protesters.

Shabwa is currently under the control of the Presidential Leadership Council, headed by Rashad al-Alimi. Forces allied with the council reportedly intervened and fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.

In December, the STC made advances in Hadramout and al-Mahra governorates, pushing out the Saudi-aligned National Shield Forces and forcing simmering tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi into the open. Deadly clashes in the country’s south erupted and the separatist group announced its dissolution in the weeks that followed, but protests continued in support of the STC, with calls for an independent south.

Yemen has been mired for more than a decade in a civil war that involves a complex interplay of sectarian and tribal grievances and the involvement of regional powers. The STC leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, is wanted for treason and has fled to Abu Dhabi.

“Masked members of the security and military forces opened fire on the demonstrators,” the STC branch in Shabwa said in the statement.

It added: “As the mass march moved toward the al-Fakhama Hotel … the security and military forces began firing directly at the protesters using light and medium weapons, resulting in deaths and injuries.”

The STC accused forces affiliated with Shabwa’s local administration of storming the designated protest site, dismantling the stage, and surrounding the area with armored vehicles and troops, creating what it described as a scene “more akin to a battlefield.”

Last week, al-Alimi, announced a new 35-member Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shae’a al-Zandani, who also serves as foreign minister. It included only two women: Afrah al-Zouba, minister of planning and international cooperation, and Ahd Jaasous, state minister for women’s affairs.