'Al-Qaeda blast' kills three three southern Yemen separatist fighters

At least three members of Yemen's Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed and another three injured after a bomb targeted a separatist patrol on Wednesday evening in Abyan governorate.

Mohammed Al-Naqeeb, the Southern Armed Forces military spokesman, confirmed that three soldiers from the Security Belt – the STC’s UAE-backed military wing – were killed when their military patrol was hit by the explosion in Al-Mahfad district, east of the Abyan governorate capital of Zinjibar.

He said the other three wounded soldiers were transported to a hospital in Al-Mahfad.

In comments he made to Anadolu Agency, Al-Naqeeb condemned the "miserable attempts to destabilise security in these areas after Al-Qaeda elements were expelled from them".

@CarvajalF explains how and why al-Qaeda is losing control in southern Yemen⬇ https://t.co/91laY2O95O

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 27, 2022

In September, the STC said they took control of an important Al-Qaeda base in Abyan.

The STC controls many governorates of southern Yemen, and seeks to separate from the war-ravaged country’s north to form its own entity as it previously existed up until 1990.

The Security Belt is trained and equipped by the UAE and is tasked with fighting against local insurgents and militants affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, who often wage attacks in the region and kill members of the STC-linked forces.

The UAE has used its influence in the south of Yemen to build ports and military bases in the strategically important Red Sea region.

Other parts of Yemen are controlled by government forces or the Iran-backed Houthi group, which occupies the capital Sanaa.

Hundreds of thousands are believed to have died in Yemen’s civil war since 2014. The United Nations says the country is witnessing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.