Separatists Make Further Gains in South Yemen

Intense fighting reported in provincial capital

Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) is looking to continue to add to its gains across South Yemen, and on Thursday moved into parts of the Shabwa Province. Two stretches of territory in the province are being contested.

The more important of the two parts of Shabwa being contested is the capital of Atlaq, where intense street fighting in reportedly raging in multiple neighborhoods. The STC forces are trying to storm a military site in the city.

The STC began a territory push early this month, seizing the historical capital of South Yemen, Aden. Earlier this week, they moved into the neighboring Abyan Province, seizing major territory there.

Shabwa is the comparatively oil-rich part of Yemen, which isn’t to say there is a lot of oil by Middle Eastern standards, but it would be an additional value proposition for the STC as they try to carve out a new South Yemen.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.