Statement Issued by
The Presidential Office of the Republic of Yemen
August 29, 2019
The armed rebel militias went out and attacked all state institutions and camps in the temporary capital Aden with the support, funding, and planning of the United Arab Emirates. They then expanded towards Lahj and Abyan governorates, storming state institutions and military camps until they reached Shabwa (the land of Osan, Qataban and Hemiar), where their ambitions were heroically resisted by the determined and valiant units of our national army and tribes, which resulted in the cleansing of Shabwah from the outlawed militias.
I then directed for a general amnesty to all members of the so-called Shabwani Elite forces and ordered to accommodate them within the Army and Security Units. All are Yemenis, and I was and still keen on including them all.
Unfortunately, the United Arab Emirates has exploited the current circumstances to sway them against the legitimate state institutions. However, many stood by the units of the National Army to liberate the entire Abyan governorate and continued to the gates of Aden, where the world witnessed the great popular support for them from the people of Aden.
However, we were surprised by the UAE’s air raids against citizens and members of our National Army within populated neighborhoods in Aden, which led forces to withdraw to spare Aden and its people the consequences of the insane destruction by the militias of the so-called Southern Transitional Council, supported by an air cover and military raids from United Arab Emirates aircrafts.
We were further surprised when United Arab Emirates aircrafts carried out strikes on Thursday morning, August 29, 2019, killing dozens of soldiers (who are now martyrs) and wounding many others in Abyan and Aden, accompanied by campaigns of incursions, arrests and even extrajudicial executions of wounded in some hospitals in Abyan.
Our fateful battle today is the battle to defend the unity, integrity, and stability of the homeland of the forefathers and future Yemenis in Federal Yemen. There cannot be as a consequence of the collective determination of our brothers in the Arab battle against Iran, any rupture to our country!
I have directed all Government institutions to take all necessary measures at various levels to face this blatant targeting against our country and its territorial integrity.
The weapons and arsenal of Iran and its militias could not intimidate us, nor will we be intimidated by the warplanes targeting our land. We will reclaim Aden and reinstate its legitimate institutions, which will bring us closer to liberating Sana’a and defeating the Iranian-Houthi agenda, which is now the biggest beneficiary of the disruption of the state and its legitimate functions.
I call on ALL Yemenis to stand steadfast by the national army in its decisive battle to reject all the regional and devious agendas for divisions, so that we move forward towards the future and a new Yemen, based on justice, equality, and development. The new federal Yemen will not exclude anyone!
On behalf of all our Yemeni people, I would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, our partners of victory and destiny, the leader of the Arab Coalition. We reiterate our call on them to intervene to stop this blatant interference of supporting those militias and using aerial bombardment against our armed forces.