Yemen: The last round of fighting in Shabwa governorate, as well as previous rounds, demonstrated a clear superiority of the UAE- backed factions. The UAE intervened through its forces stationed at Ataq Airport, supporting its mercenaries the "Giant" brigades and the "Shabwa Defense Forces", targeting by drones the gatherings of the Saudi-backed "Islah" party.”

More than two years ago, Shabwa turned into a preferred destination for local and regional parties to control wealth, which explains its desperation to use all its cards there, in the hope of reaping future gains.

This competition has intensified in light of the increasing global need for oil following the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. Several visits by US officials have been recorded in recent months, to explore the possibility of boosting oil and gas production and export, and to explore plans by local authorities to remove obstacles in front of that.

Accordingly, the current conflict, although its public nature is a conflict of legal powers, but its reality is the appropriation of sources of wealth, which until recently were still the only economic resource to the pro-aggression government, currently represented in the “ Saudi-UAE Council of agents.” 

However, the “Southern Transitional Council” is trying with all its efforts to extract the card of that wealth, given the impossibility of the success of its separatist project without oil, which is concentrated in the eastern governorates, specifically the Hadramawt and Shabwa governorates, which are outside its control, with the exception of their ports.

UAE-backed Forces Ended "Brotherhood's Military Rebellion"

Although the STC feels the euphoria of victory against the background of the field gains made by the Giants Brigades and Shabwa Defense, the two mentioned factions are not among its military formations, but are managed and financed directly by Emirati forces in Yemen.

These two succeeded, finally, in ending what they called the “Brotherhood military rebellion” and eliminating the military presence of “Islah” in the city of Ataq, the center of Shabwa governorate, represented by the “21 Mica Brigade” led by Major General Jahdal Hanash.