Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi has stressed the importance of protecting the state’s presence and the safety of its institutions in Hadhramaut, eastern Yemen.
Hadi urged Hadhramaut Governor, commander of the Second Military Region Major General Faraj al-Bahssoni, to increase vigilance and raise the awareness in the province, official sources said.
In a phone call with Bahssoni, Hadi highlighted the need for integration and coordination among various security and military services to maintain stability. He ordered the prosecution of troublemakers and lawbreakers who have been trying in vain to destabilize security in the province, sources noted.
The phone call came following a threat by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) to extend confrontations in Abyan with government forces for the fourth consecutive day to Hadhramaut and Shabwa.
Official sources said Hadi hailed Bahssoni’s stance, which calls for boosting unity among people and reinforcing their solidarity in support for state institutions and their legitimacy.
The governor also rejected and warned against any military actions or formations that are not part of the official security and military establishment.
Saba news agency quoted Hadi as saying that the Republic will win and small projects are doomed to failure.
Meanwhile, the leader in the STC, Ahmed bin Buraik, has earlier accused the government forces in Hadhramaut of sending “terrorist forces” to participate in the battles of Abyan alongside the legitimate forces.
“We announce to all tribes that, starting from Thursday, the southern military resistance will begin operating in the province along with Shabwa and Abyan, and any area in which terrorist elements are located,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed denied weakness or negligence in facing threats by the STC, however, he called during his meeting with ambassadors of the five permanent members of the Security Council on Wednesday for halting escalation and resuming the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement signed in November.
The meeting highlighted the international rejection of the STC’s self-declaration of rule over the south and the consequent undermining of the work of state institutions in the temporary capital of Aden and efforts to support the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.
