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16-03-2021
SANA’A/ RIYADH: Angry Yemeni protesters have stormed the presidential palace in the southern city of Aden, seat of the internationally recognized government, according to local sources.
Demonstrators broke into the Maasheeq Presidential Palace on Tuesday amid public anger over the lack of services, poor living conditions and depreciation of the local currency, the sources told Reuters.
Local sources also told media the protesters found no resistance from forces loyal to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).
A journalist said the protesters are members of the national security forces who have not been paid for nine months.
“We understand the protests have been peaceful so far and that some sort of mediation is taking place,” Elshayyal said, speaking from Doha.
Yemen’s Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik and other members of the internationally recognized government remain inside the building, two officials told Reuters. However, local sources could not independently confirm the veracity of the report.
Shortly after the incident, a government source said that Aden’s police chief, General Mutaher al-Shuaibi, arrived at the scene to talk to protesters and convince them to leave.
The palace, which the UN-backed government had taken as its headquarters, is guarded by Saudi troops on the inside, “but from the outside, it is backed by the separatists, the southern transitional council, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in theory is meant to be backing Saudi Arabia but in reality has been supporting the separatists that have been calling for a secession from Sanaa,” Elshayyal said.
Meanwhile, a separate demonstration broke out in Yemen’s eastern city of Sayoun in Hadhramaut province, after dozens of people stormed a governmental complex in protest against dire living conditions and continuous increases in prices.
Forces affiliated to Yemen’s internationally recognized government fired gun shots in the air to disperse the crowds while protesters burnt car tyres in the streets nearby.
The STC condemned the government forces response to the protests.
Yemen has been wracked by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
A new unity government was formed last year under a power-sharing deal brokered by Riyadh, in a bid to end the power struggle between the separatist STC, backed by the UAE, and loyalists to President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, who is backed by Saudi Arabia.
The goal was to unite both sides in the fight against the Houthis, who control the country’s northern areas.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are key members in an alliance supporting the government-allied forces in fighting the Houthis. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
