UAE-backed Shabwa Elite Forces foil Brotherhood’s plots in Asilan

The UAE-backed Shabwa Elite Forces foiled plots of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform (Al-Islah Party), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, to control the oil-rich Asilan, in Yemen’s southern governorate of Shabwa.

The Shabwa Elite Forces reinforced its positions in Asilan in preparation for security redeployment operations in 3 districts to foil the Brotherhood’s schemes in Bihan and other Shabwa provinces.

The Brotherhood’s militias are seeking to take over oil-rich Asilan in preparation for any changes in the political solution to the Yemeni crisis.

Shabwa is strategically located in south Yemen, and it is one of the first governorates that rejected the Houthi constitutional declaration in January 2015. Shabwa produces more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day.  

Nizar Haitham, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, told THE REFERENCE that the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to take over the oil-rich Asilan and Bihan in Shabwa, to seize Yemen’s oilfields in the south.

“The Brotherhood is seeking to lay the foundation for a state in Marib with an army which is funded by the Brotherhood’s international organization, Qatar and the Houthis,” Haitham said.

Haitham said that the Muslim Brotherhood wants to get the approval of Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi to adjoin the oil-rich region to Marib.

“The people of Shabwa strongly reject the Brotherhood's plots, which are backed by Qatar. The Shabwa Elite Forces are fully aware of these plots,” he added.