Al-Qaeda figure arrested in new STC security campaign

A UAE-backed secessionist group in Yemen announced on Sunday the launch of a large-scale campaign against Al-Qaeda in the country’s south, following a series of attacks by militants.

The campaign of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) is “working to track down the terrorist elements in the valleys, mountains and some remote areas” in Abyan province’s Mudiyah district, the group’s Security Belt Forces (SBF) paramilitary said.

STC forces have been deployed to areas where Al-Qaeda militants are believed to be hiding, including at the entrance to Wadi Omran and villages where a joint army-STC security initiative has taken place, said the SBF.

The new security campaign in Mudiyah district had led to the arrest of a senior Al-Qaeda figure, known as Abu Al-Qaqaa.

It comes after a suspected Al-Qaeda attack at an entrance to Mudiyah district on Saturday killed at least two fighters loyal to the STC, with five others injured.

Another suspected Al-Qaeda attack in Wadi Omran days earlier killed five STC fighters.

Al-Qaeda’s operations have grown in frequency in the south over the past year.

The STC opposes the rule of Yemen’s internationally-recognised government. Some analysts claim the group is being used as a pawn by the UAE to push its own foreign policy agenda.

Source: newarab