From salaries and nutrition to the media... a "presidential" betrayal of the South's battle against terrorism
English - Sunday 13 August 2023 الساعة 10:02 am
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The martyrdom of Brigadier General Abd al-Latif al-Sayyid, commander of the security belt forces in Abyan, on Thursday, represented the culmination of the losses incurred by the southern forces in their ongoing battle against terrorist organizations for months.
Al-Sayed was martyred while leading the security campaign launched by the southern forces on Sunday, to complete the purification of Abyan governorate from terrorist elements 2011 .
The operation comes as a continuation of the operation launched by the southern forces in the province in August of last year, and succeeded in purging large areas of the central districts of the province from terrorist elements by controlling its most important camps and strongholds, especially Wadi Omran.
These successes were priced at heavy sacrifices incurred by the southern forces participating in the campaign, after the elements of the terrorist organizations resorted to ambushes and planted explosive devices to target the mechanisms and elements of the campaign, which caused the death of about 100 members of the southern forces, including leaders, according to military sources.
A painful bill that reflects the ferocity of the battle waged by the southern forces against terrorist organizations, which the President of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi, confirms as "a fateful, continuous and irreversible battle," according to his statement during a meeting he held late last month with the military and security leaders in Abyan Governorate.
The Transitional Council believes that the sacrifices made by the southern forces "ward off the threat of terrorism to the region and global shipping lanes," calling on "regional states and the international community to provide the necessary support to the southern armed forces in this battle, which is directed to protect international corridors and interests in the region," according to a meeting of the Presidency Council earlier this month.
While the STC calls on the countries of the region and the international community to support the southern forces in their battle against terrorism, southern activists question the official support by the Presidential Leadership Council and the government, and the lack of adoption of the battle waged by the southern forces against terrorism clearly, even in the media.
Where the official media refuses to deal with and publish everything related to the campaigns launched by the southern forces to pursue terrorist elements, but rather ignores the incidents that targeted these elements of the southern forces, as happened with the martyrdom of Al-Sayyid, where the official media contented themselves with publishing the condolences of the president and members of the Council and the government for the man's martyrdom.
Southern activists see this disregard as a continuation of the official failure of the southern forces in their battle against terrorism, despite the logistical difficulties they have been experiencing since 2019, on top of which is the dilemma of salaries and nutrition, which the southern forces affiliated with the Transitional Council suffer from and do not receive any official support from the leadership council, the government, or the Ministry Defense.
On the other hand, an official document revealed directives to the President of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, to the government to disburse a budget for feeding the army of the Ministry of Defense for three months in the amount of 31 billion riyals, or about 10 billion riyals per month, despite the fact that the majority of the fronts and the liberated area on the ground are controlled by forces outside The strength of the ministry is not included in this budget.
These presidential directives to spend on the army of legitimacy, which is accused of being the majority of its strength "fake" despite the financial crisis that his government claims while refraining from providing any support to the southern forces, southern activists see it as an additional blow directed at the existing partnership between the forces affiliated within the framework of the Leadership Council Presidential elections and reinforces the sense of abandonment of the southerners and their armed forces in the battle against terrorism.
