Yemen Separatists Redeploy Out of Abyan Province

Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) continue redeploying amid a power-sharing deal with the pro-Saudi government. First, troops were sent out of Aden to Dhale.

Now, they’re moving out of the key Abyan Province, and into neighboring Lahj. Officials say this is meant to allow them to more easily target the Houthi rebels, though its not clear they have much in positions around Lahj.

After over a year of refusing the power-sharing deal with the STC, the emphasis on forcing them out of provinces may not suggest a lot of confidence in this deal holding together, and the government hoping to get them away from territory they could not otherwise recover.

The STC has controlled Abyan off and on for most of the year, but has contested it in the past with al-Qaeda. This makes moving out in the idea that the government will move in unlikely to be so simple.