Yemen Monitor/Aden/Private:
An initiative to open the Sana’a-Aden road via Al-Dhale’ province has failed, while 5 travelers were injured after a tribal mediation claimed to have successfully opened the vital main road.
Residents and sources told Yemen Monitor in the city of Damt that the mediation and a number of Houthi leaders opened the road from their side, but when the mediation moved to the opposite side, they were surprised by gunfire from positions controlled by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) supported by the UAE.
One of the mediators said that they removed the barricades and concrete barriers from the Houthi positions who had completely refused to open them during the past five years, but we were surprised by gunfire from the pro-government forces when we moved towards them.
A field commander of the UAE-backed Security Belt told Yemen Monitor that they had not received any instructions from the STC leaders to open the roads.
Dr. Hamoud Al-Awdi, a professor of sociology, said: “The conditions were conducive from all parties, starting with civil society, local authorities, and the people of the region gathered in the city of Damt. All the earth barriers, concrete barriers and mines were removed from the road, and every move is based on continuous communication with Aden and Al-Dhale’, from which we found nothing but readiness.”
However, Al-Awdi points out that “after we traveled more than 20 kilometers south of the city of Damt, we walked on foot for more than three kilometers. As soon as we reached the point of contact where we expected to be greeted with peace, shaking hands, affection and joy, we were surprised by a hail of gunfire and artillery shells passing over our heads”.
Residents of the city of Damt say that its transformation into front lines between the Houthis and the government forces and their loyalists, such as the Southern Transitional Council, has caused endless suffering for residents who spend hours reaching areas that may only take a few minutes to an hour.
In recent days, supporters of the STC have launched a campaign against those calling for the opening of the roads, claiming that they are “former borders between two states” and that the aim is to end the “separatist project” that the council has been seeking since its establishment with the support of Abu Dhabi in 2017.
