Yemen’s South on the Fifth Anniversary of the Saudi American Aggression: Details

YemenExtra

The south has never been far from aggression and siege since the enemy has put Yemen in general in the targeting circle. The Saudi American aggression has committed the most heinous crimes against Yemenis.

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the National Day of Resilience, we prepared this report in order to reveal the dangerous transformations witnessed by the southern scene during five years of aggression and siege.

By following, documenting and analyzing the events in the south, we found that there is a consensus between the countries of the aggression, most notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The two countries aim to occupy the south, monopolize its decision, plunder its wealth, destroy its capabilities, humiliate its people, and summon terrorist and ISIS organizations to use them as a cover for new colonialism under different slogans.

The first slogan was the restoration of the so-called legitimacy and Aden was stormed and controlled by the Emirates under this title. The opponents of the Emirati occupation, including scholars, religious and military personalities, social figures, youth and political forces, were assassinated in the streets of Aden. The aggression also used foreign mercenaries to implement the series of assassinations in Aden and the southern governorates. In conjunction with its bloody serial implementation, it worked to dismantle all southern forces and managed, with money and arms, to dismantle the southern movement demanding the restoration of the state.

The aggression turned the aforementioned movement to an armed movement to later manipulate the youth of the south to serve its agenda. Serving such movement serves no country but the UAE occupier instead of Yemen since “Southern Transitional is backed by the UAE. It has also allocated 48 billion Saudi riyals for the establishment of military and security militia formations exceeding 90,000 elements. The movement turned into a tool used to impose its control on the south and fight in the West Coast to achieve an American, British and Zionist agenda at Bab Al-Mandab strait.

During the past years, the occupier managed to turn the southern issue into an instrument of blackmail and conflict, as it blackmails Sanaa during political dialogues and uses it to absorb the anger of the southerners at times. For example, it permits committing racist crimes such as killing the sons of the North, deporting thousands of them, and taking their money and their legitimate rights in the south.

Also during the last period, the occupier used the UAE policy of state terrorism and oppression to subjugate the city of Aden to its control by the force of arms, establishing 27 secret prisons and arresting thousands of people from the south. The UAE also used the policy of intimidating the population through raids targeting residential neighborhoods at night and shootings from various light and medium weapons in order to raise terror and fear among civilians.

Moreover, the UAE implemented a scheme to attack the southern social class, separating the tribes from each other. Following the policy of the British occupier, the UAE used the “divide and conquer” war tactic to achieve its interests. Meanwhile, it deliberately destroyed the reputation, status and movement of the port of Aden in favor of its own ports.

Under the title “Restoring Legitimacy”, the Emirates occupied Socotra, tampered with its properties, worried the tranquility of its people, and took advantage of the absence of the state on the island and the peace of its people to impose its full control, undermine the local authorities and take possession of the island’s decision-making. The UAE treats the people of the island as those under a legit occupation as it no longer considers the island Yemeni but rather Emirati, amid the silence of the fugitive Hadi government.

During the past years, the UAE has worked to provoke conflicts and disputes in Shabwa, Hadramawt and Abyan. It tried to impose its control on the southern and eastern coasts until the matter reached a clash of its interests with Saudi interests in Shabwa, Hadramawt and Al Mahrah, the governorates that Riyadh had old ambitions in.

Such ambitions were once failed to implement by King Faisal bin Abdulaziz in the 1960s and he tried to sign agreements to establish the so-called eastern territory, which is known today as Hadramout territory.

The territory was approved by the National Dialogue Conference in Sana’a in 2014, under Saudi sponsorship. The eastern region that Riyadh worked to revive after fifty years of its failure includes Shabwa, Hadramaut and Al-Mahra. Since Al-Mahrah is a tribal governorate that rejects subservience and occupation, it rejected the Saudi temptations during the past decades. Therefore, Saudi Arabia attempted to exploit the weakness and subjugation of Sanaa government to control 40,000 kilometers of Al-Mahra lands, which included more than 35,000 Mahri speaking people.

It also took control of the Al-Kharakheer region that has always had a Yemeni identity and history. During the period of the aggression, Riyadh used a different title than the title of the Emirates in Aden. It interfered militarily in Al-Mahrah under the pretext of reconstruction. Today, there is only one project in Al-Mahrah and 33 camps with established militias loyal to it. Saudi Arabia faced the rejection of the tribes and sons of Al-Mahra for its military presence by force and challenge.

During the fifth year of the aggression, Saudi Arabia worked to enhance its military presence in southern Yemen by exploiting disputes and conflicts between mercenary parties in Aden. This is especially after the August war that the Emirates had ignited against mercenaries of the fugitive Hadi government and Islah party militias in Aden, Abyan and Shabwa. The Transitional Militia then occupied Aden, including all of Hadi’s camps and Al-Maashiq Palace. It expelled the Hadi government and took control of Abyan and Al-Shabwa. Consequently, Al-Islah sent thousands of its militias to fight the Southern Transitional party under Saudi directions and attempted to restore Shabwa governorate, an oil-rich governorate.

Riyadh considers the presence of the Southern Transitional party in Al-Mahra, which is affiliated with the UAE, a threat to its old ambitions such as annexing the eastern region to its lands. Therefore, after the recent events and war in Aden, Abyan and Shabwa, which took place late last year, Saudi Arabia managed to obtain a new cover for its military presence in the south. It ostensibly moved from the role of returning the so-called legitimacy and reconstruction to the complete guardianship according to the terms of the so-called “The Riyadh Agreement” signed on the fifth of November 2019 AD between the UAE mercenaries and the Saudi mercenaries. The latter publicly agreed to turn into mere executors who are commanded and have no decision or option other than to implement what Riyadh desires.

This takes place under the pretext of implementing the Riyadh agreement, which turned into a major cover for the introduction of dozens of Saudi military shipments to the city of Aden and expanding its military presence in Al-Mahra. Saudi Arabia has also begun the construction of an oil pipeline to extend Saudi oil to the Arabian Sea. Riyadh’s insistence to occupy Yemen’s Nashtoun’s port in Al-Mahra only acts as evidence that it will violate national sovereignty with its project.

During the five years of the aggression, the occupation bill increased in the southern governorates, whereas public services deteriorated and the humanitarian situation worsened. The fugitive Hadi government no longer has control and has turned into a powerless party in the south.

Therefore, it can be said that the Decisive Storm that started in 1967 in Sharurah and Al-Wadia during the reign of Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz’s kingdom is what has returned today to the south. This is because the coalition of aggression exists today in the south as an occupier and not as an ally of the people of the south or what is called the government of fugitive Hadi.