Forces loyal to Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is seeking to split from northern Yemen, continued on Friday a campaign of arrests and raids on the homes of pro-government residents in the city of Aden, local and rights sources said.
The raids have also reached northern provinces, in addition to Shabwa and Abyan, affirmed the sources, describing these measures as retaliation acts carried out by the STC against people opposing their presence Aden.
STC members arrested almost 400 individuals in one day, with violations reaching the extent of killing. An STC force raided a house of a pro-government leader in Dar Sad, and killed his brother during the operation.
The sources pointed out that the force stormed the house of Brigadier General Amjad Khalid, Commander of the Transport Brigade before it looted the place and executed his brother Youssef.
For their part, Yemeni activists warned over social media against the continuous STC retaliation acts against political opposers, calling for documenting these violations.
Meanwhile, ISIS in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack against an STC patrol. The operation was confirmed by security sources in the city after a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked the patrol in Dar Sad, in Aden's north.
There were conflicting reports on the death toll. While security sources said at least three were killed, medical sources said that the number rose to five.
Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani accused the STC of cooperating with Houthis during the clashes in Aden between STC forces and the government. Eryani clarified that this aims to spark chaos and violence in the interim capital Aden and the southern provinces and to limit the efforts of the government.
Earlier, the Yemeni government accused the UAE of targeting government forces in Aden and its suburbs, causing casualties.
For its part, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said: “In response to threats against Coalition forces, the UAE conducted precision air operations on 28th and 29th of August 2019. The operations aimed at countering and deterring imminent threats against coalition forces and the people of Aden."
The first international reaction was made by Russia, which expressed concern over the UAE airstrikes on Yemeni government forces' sites in Aden and Abyan, as it called on all parties for self-restraint.
"Those developments cause our serious concern," the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department, Alexei Zaytsev, said.
"The escalation of armed confrontation in South Yemen and its transition to a new dangerous phase are prone to negative consequences not only for that country but for regional security in general."
