{"id":387,"date":"2026-01-04T08:03:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T08:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1newsnetwork.com\/?p=387"},"modified":"2026-02-02T20:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T20:32:18","slug":"pro-government-forces-secure-full-control-of-yemens-al-mahra-after-stcs-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/04\/pro-government-forces-secure-full-control-of-yemens-al-mahra-after-stcs-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-government forces secure full control of Yemen\u2019s Al-Mahra after STC\u2019s withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Handover process between National Shield Forces, STC forces carried out smoothly during meeting attended by leaders from both sides, official tells Anadolu news agency <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n

By Shukri Hussein and Rania Abushamala<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ISTANBUL (AA) – Pro-government forces have taken control of all districts of Yemen\u2019s eastern Al-Mahra province after the withdrawal of Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces, a local official told Anadolu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohammed Omar Suwailim, director general of the Youth and Sports Office in Al-Mahra, said Saturday the National Shield Forces have extended their control over all nine districts of Al-Mahra province after the withdrawal of STC forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the \u201chandover process between the National Shield Forces and STC forces was carried out smoothly during a meeting attended by leaders from both sides in Qishn district (about 170 kilometers west of the provincial capital, Al-Ghaydah).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, the Yemeni government said its National Shield Forces took full control of Hadhramaut\u2019s desert and valley region after Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces withdrew, as Yemen\u2019s state-run media reported STC troop withdrawal from Al-Ghaydah airport and the presidential palace in the eastern province of Al-Mahra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Shield Forces were formed in 2023 with a decision from Rashad al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, and operate under his command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no immediate comment from the STC, which advocates southern secession and had taken control of Al-Mahra about a month ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yemen has seen an unprecedented escalation since Tuesday, after the STC forces took control of Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra in early December. The two provinces account for nearly half of Yemen\u2019s territory and share borders with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, STC head Aidrous al-Zubaidi announced a two-year \u201ctransitional phase\u201d that would include dialogue with parties in northern Yemen and a \u201creferendum\u201d on the future of the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move came amid a rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE after Riyadh accused Abu Dhabi of \u201cpushing STC forces to carry out military operations\u201d along the kingdom\u2019s southern border in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra. The UAE denied the accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The STC says successive Yemeni governments have marginalized southern regions politically and economically and calls for secession. Yemeni authorities reject the claim and reaffirm their commitment to the country\u2019s unity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Handover process between National Shield Forces, STC forces carried out smoothly during meeting attended by leaders from both sides, official tells Anadolu<\/em> news agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[30,29,31],"class_list":{"0":"post-387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conflict-zones","8":"tag-saudi-arabia","9":"tag-uae","10":"tag-yemen"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions\/389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1nationmedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}