In a sudden move, military forces sealed off the gates of the Yemeni Presidential Palace in Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital, on Sunday evening. The security action was spearheaded by a unit from the “Southern Giants Brigades” under the leadership of Yemeni Leadership Council member, Abdul Rahman Al-Muhrami.
This sealing of the “Ma’ashiq” Palace persisted for hours, restricting any movement in or out, impacting even the office staff of Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik. Normal movements were later permitted, albeit with heightened security measures in place.
The prime minister’s office quickly notified the Leadership Council about the incident. This comes just two days after the Prime Minister’s return to Aden, following a two-month absence due to severe power outages in the city, caused by a fuel shortage for power plants. The fuel scarcity stems from the financial crisis the Yemeni government is grappling with, a direct result of halted crude oil exports after ports were targeted by the “Ansar Allah” group in October 2022.
Addressing the event, Rashad Al-Alimi, the head of Yemen’s Leadership Council, together with the Defense Minister and head of the Supreme Security Committee, General Mohsen Al-Daari, called for an investigation into the reasons behind the sealing of the Ma’ashiq Palace’s gate. They seek to identify those responsible and ensure such occurrences don’t happen in the future.
It’s worth noting that on the same Sunday evening, confrontations broke out in Yemen’s southern Abyan province between the Yemeni army and the “Ansar Allah” group. These clashes resulted in casualties, including four Yemeni soldiers.
According to Yemeni military sources, the confrontations took place in the Al-Halhal front in the Lodar district, northeast of Abyan. Army units, backed by the Southern Resistance affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council, repelled an “Ansar Allah” group assault. The group aimed to advance towards the center of the neighboring district, but Yemeni army forces and the Southern Resistance successfully thwarted them, deploying medium to heavy weaponry in the confrontation.
