Taiz (TDI): The Governor of Hadhramout, the Commander of the Homeland’s Shield Forces, General Salem Al khanbashi, has announced successful camps handover in Hadhramout after the forces were deployed across the biggest governorate in Yemen.
The process (handing over and receiving camps) in Hadhramout has been achieved smoothly in coordination between different military and security units, Al-Khanbashi told the state-owned Yemen News Agency on Monday.
Most of the military camps in Hadhramout are under the Hadhrami Elite Command, which were established by the United Arab Emirates in 2018 with full financing from the UAE.
Recently, these forces joined the military operation of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces, which headed from Aden to take control of the Eastern Governorates of Hadhramout and Al-Mahra.
The Southern Transitional Council handed over the camps again to the Elite forces, which have been originally formed from sons of Hadhramout, away from the internationally-recognized government’s army. Now, the Saudi-backed Homeland’s Shield Forces received the camps from the Hadhrami Elite Forces.
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Hadhrami people are peaceful in their nature and this helped the process of handover achieved smoothly after the STC’s forces left Hadhramout through a deal with the remaining Saudi-backed forces to leave the governorate peacefully after handing over all their weapons and return to Aden in buses.
The success of the camp handover operation marks the beginning of a new phase characterized by security and coexistence, and strengthens citizens’ confidence in the military and security institutions, said Al-Khanbashi, who is also the Head of the Security Committee in Hadhramout.
Reports from the eastern governorates reveal that the Shield Forces are preparing to continue their way to take control of the third eastern governorate of Shabwah, the second oil-rich governorate, which also contain the Port of the strategic Natural Liquified Gas Project in Balhaf.
Balhaf Port has been under the control of the UAE officers since 2018 and left it recently after President Al-Alimi order of UAE to leave Yemen.
Journalist Fares Al-Himyari, who is reporting from Aden and Eastern Governorates, reported that the military forces of the Homeland’s Shield are preparing to continue military operation in the third Eastern Governorate, Shawbah.
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The forces are likely to station in strategic locations, mainly Balhaf Port, in which a facility for liquefying natural gas coming from Marib Governorate to be exported to Korea and South America was constructed in 2007.
The forces will also station in other vital places like oil fields in the governorate, said Al-Himyari. Securing the Balhaf facility is an exceptionally significant step, as it represents the largest economic project in Yemen’s history, with
construction costs exceeding USD 4.5 billion, said a source in Shabwah.
Observers believe that handing over this facility—idle since 2015—to the Homeland’s Shield Forces could pave the way for the resumption of production and exports, while also providing the necessary protection for foreign companies operating there.
Murrah Base: The Military Heart of Shabwa
As for Murrah Base, it is considered the most important military stronghold in Shabwa Governorate. It serves as a defensive fortress for the city of Ataq and a hub for controlling supply lines, troop deployment and securing oil fields.
The move by the Homeland’s Shield Forces toward this base is seen as strengthening the state’s ability to maintain security and stability in the oil-rich governorate.
Journalist Ahmed Maher, in a post in his X platform yesterday evening, called President Al-Alimi to secure the Transitional Capital of Aden against any riot acts could be carried out by the forces of the Southern Transitional Council, which redeployed in Aden and nearby governorates of Lahj and Dhale’a after beaten in eastern governorates.
Maher, who spent two years in prisons of the Southern Transitional Council over criticizing the President of the Council Aidrus Al-Zubaidi, said any victory to the Homeland’s Shield Forces is worthless unless Aden and nearby areas are secured against the Transitional Council Forces’ potential military acts.
Regaining Aden and securing it against Southern Transitional Forces stationed at Ma’ashiq Place is very important for any future government ruling the country from Aden, said Maher.
Mahmoud Assamiee
Mahmoud Assamiee is a Yemeni Journalist who is currently working in Yemen News Agency,
the government news agency of Yemen. He has been writing in English and Arabic as a journalist for many
years in different domains, and is a leading member of the Yemeni Journalist Syndicate. He can be reached at mahmoudassamiee@gmail.com
