The Coalition Reveals Aidarous al-Zubaidi ‘s Escape and Military Movements Threatening the Security of Aden and Al-Dhale
Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The official spokesperson for the forces of the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, announced that the head of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous Qasim al-Zubaidi , has fled to an unknown location after refusing to come to Saudi Arabia to meet with Coalition leaders and the Presidency Council leadership.
Al-Maliki explained that the Coalition leadership informed Al-Zubaidi on January 4th of the necessity to attend within 48 hours to address the reasons for the escalation by the STC forces and their attack on Hadramawt and Al-Mahra provinces. While the Council announced on January 5th its welcome for a comprehensive southern conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Al-Zubaidi expressed his desire to attend on January 6th. However, he did not board the flight heading to Riyadh; instead, he moved towards Al-Dhale with armored and armed forces from the Hadid and Al-Solban camps at midnight.
The spokesperson indicated that Al-Zubaidi distributed weapons and ammunition to elements present in Aden, led by Momin Al-Saqqaf and Mukhtar Al-Noubi, with the aim of inciting disturbances within the city. This prompted the forces of the National Shield and the Coalition, in coordination with the Vice President of the Presidency Council, Abdulrahman Al-Mahrami, to take strict security measures to prevent clashes and protect civilians.
At dawn on January 6th, Coalition forces, in cooperation with the legitimate government and the forces of the National Shield, carried out preemptive strikes against the forces that had positioned themselves near Al-Zand camp in Al-Dhale province, to disrupt their movements and thwart escalation plans.
