STC's Presidium Deplores Regional and International Silence Toward the Terrorist Operations Targeting Southern Military and Security Forces

The Presidium of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) held its periodic meeting today, Thursday, chaired by Mr. Ali Abdullah Al-Kathiri, Acting President of the STC and Chairman of the National Assembly.

In the beginning of its meeting, the Presidium stood before the latest developments on the national scene, foremost of which is the escalation of offensive operations against the southern military forces and security services in the Abyan and Shabwa governorates, the most recent of which was the terrorist bombing in which the commander of Shaqra strip in the Security Belt Forces, Salem Sal’an, was martyred, as well as the car bombing that targeted the convoy of the Commander of the Special Security Forces (Aden, Lahj, Abyan, and Al Dhalea) Major General Fadhl Ba'esh.

The Presidium felt uncomfortable at the continued silence of the government, the regional and international community, and the UN Special Envoy on the terrorist operations targeting the southern military and security forces, reaffirming in this context its call to active regional and international forces to support the southern forces in their decisive battle against terrorist organizations in this strategic area on behalf of the region and the world.

Furthermore, the Presidium listened to reports of the teams assigned by the STC's Presidium to field inspection visits to the governorates of the South, the results of the meetings they held with the local leadership of the STC, the local authorities, the security and military command, and the societal segments in the governorates, and the recommendations emanating from those meetings.

Similarly, the Presidium lauded the efforts made by the teams during their field tours, the immense momentum that accompanied those tours, and the great official and popular interaction with them, highlighting that this reflects everyone’s interest in the issues and problems that face their governorates and a great desire to solve them.

Likewise, the Presidium confirmed the continuation of its discussion of all recommendations issued by those meetings and their crystallization into work mechanisms to be included in the priorities of the STC’s work program for the upcoming period.

In addition to that, the Presidium discussed a range of social issues and problems, most notably the phenomenon of revenge, which has expanded in Shabwa Governorate and reappeared in certain areas of Abyan Governorate, calling on the military and security forces in the two governorates to take positive action towards this aggravated phenomenon and to exert maximum efforts with the local authorities, dignitaries, and tribal entities to find a radical solution to it because of its great endangering to the social fabric in the two governorates.

The meeting touched on a range of organizational issues and topics related to the work of the central and local council bodies and took the necessary measures.