For the third consecutive day, battles raged between pro-government forces and the Southern Transitional Council east of the city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, where the two sides failed to make any major military advance.
Since Monday, the two sides have engaged in fierce clashes on the outskirts of Zinjibar, after the launch of an offensive by pro-government troops.
The legitimacy said Wednesday that Zinjibar’s liberation is near, and justified its operation by describing the STC’s military escalation as a "full-blown coup."
Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani told Saba news agency on Wednesday that the "continuous escalation by the STC, all the way to its declaration of 'self-rule,' amounts to a full-blown coup against the state, the Riyadh Agreement and UN resolutions on the Yemeni crisis."
He said the government had offered many concessions to the STC until the Riyadh Agreement was signed but the Council reacted to them "with disdain, perceiving them as a sign of weakness" by the government.
Chairman of the STC National Assembly, Ahmed Saeed bin Brik, accused the Yemeni government of sending “terrorist” reinforcements to the Abyan front and setting the stage for attacks.
“We announce to all tribes, youth and the resistance of Hadhramaut, the inauguration of the southern military resistance in the Hadhramaut Valley, in the governorates of Shabwa and Abyan, and any place where the Brotherhood terrorist elements are present,” bin Brik wrote on his Twitter account.
Yemeni sources said government forces have opened a new front towards the Al-Tariya "al-Darajaj" area, and battlefield sources said that they have made a remarkable advance by controlling the positions of transitional forces there.
On April 25, the STC declared self-rule in the port city of Aden and nearby areas, igniting a new wave of tension with pro-government forces.
