Following two days of violent armed clashes across several southern provinces of Yemen: Hadhramawt, Shabwa and Aden, President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who admittedly warned that the situation did not bode well for unity, called on the armed forces to return calm and order.
As tanks and armoured vehicles moved into Hadhramawt, the epicentre of the southern rebellion, residents said they were preparing themselves for a violent showdown in between southern militants and the central government armed forces. Several local Haraki members (Southern Secessionist Movement) warned that a move against the South would add fuel to an already high burning fire, as once again northerners would appear the ever quelling colonial force.
In Aden, residents in Mansoura, a popular district of the former capital, residents confirmed hearing a loud explosion on Sunday evening, followed by heavy gun shots.
In Crater as well residents reported clashes violent clashed in between armed militants and men from the security forces. Witnesses confirmed that southern militants attempted earlier in the day to storm a police station near Haddadeen Street.
In Dar Saad, another district of Aden, militants erected road blocks, challenging the police from crossing onto their neighbourhoods. Emboldened by Hadhramawt sudden shift from peaceful resistance to armed confrontation; die-hard secessionists were heard calling on residents to rise against Sana’a central government to reclaim their independence and sovereignty.