Aden..The Transitional Council loots the medical services warehouses of the Ministry of Defense (document)

Elements of the UAE-backed Transitional Council stormed and looted the Ministry of Defense's medical services warehouses in the interim capital, Aden (southern Yemen).

A document issued by the Military Medical Services Department of the Yemeni Ministry of Defense in Aden revealed that elements of the Transitional Council stormed the Ministry of Defense's medical warehouses in Aboud Military Hospital in the interim capital, Aden, on the night of last Thursday, October 31, 2024.

The document, published by journalist Saleh Al-Hanashi on his Facebook page on Monday, explained that the attackers broke the locks on the warehouses and looted their contents, under the direction of the head of the health department in the Transitional Council, Aref Al-Daari.

The document indicated that the security protection of the warehouses falls within the responsibility of the Transitional Council's military police forces.

Journalist Al-Hanashi had published in the middle of last month that Aboud Military Hospital had come under the control of the Transitional Council’s Medical Services Administration, led by Aref Al-Daari, who had cancelled free medical services and directed the cancellation of previous procedures related to the treatment of military patients, and issued new instructions that impede patients’ access to medical services in order to collect taxes from them.

The incident of looting the Ministry of Defense's medical stores highlights the influence of the Transitional Council forces in the interim capital, Aden, and their independent operation away from the Yemeni Ministry of Defense, which is facing difficulty in integrating all anti-Houthi forces under a unified command.

The report of the UN Security Council's team of experts, which was revealed last Friday, stated that the Southern Transitional Council rejected the Ministry of Defense's request to hand over a list of the names of its soldiers, stressing that the UAE-backed council is still reluctant to join the unified forces as decided by the President of the Presidential Leadership Council, and prefers to remain independent.

It is noteworthy that the announcement of the transfer of power on April 7, 2022, stipulated the formation of the "Supreme Joint Security and Military Committee", and assigned it tasks of "achieving security and stability and restructuring the armed military and security forces that were formed after the outbreak of the war imposed by the Houthi rebel militia with Iranian support, in September 2015."

Accordingly, the President of the Presidential Council issued a decision on May 30, 2022, to form the committee, with 59 members equally divided between the north and the south, including military and security leaders from the army and security, and representatives of the formations affiliated with the Transitional Council and the rest of the parallel forces that were formed during the war with Emirati and Saudi support outside the framework of the legitimate government. However, these forces still enjoy independent financial and military management and impose their influence in large areas of the liberated areas.