Hadramout (South24) 

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This morning, widespread civil disobedience increasingly paralyzed the cities of Wadi Hadramout in South Yemen amid military repression led by the First Military District (FMD) forces.

The North Yemeni forces used medium and light weapons (Dushka [Dshk] and machine guns) to attack participating youth in the largest city in Wadi Hadramout, Seiyun.

According to local and press sources, the Northern forces arrested a number of protesters who blocked the main road in Seiyun.

According to the sources, the lists of detainees included children as part of a massive tracking campaign carried out by the Northern forces.

A video clip showed heavy gunshots being fired at civilians participating in the sit-in.

According to a press source, the FMD deployed members of its forces in civilian clothes to chase down protesters.

The protesters managed to carry out a comprehensive strike in t Seiyun and other major cities in Wadi Hadramout in the early hours of this day.

Dozens of young people blocked the International Road linking the districts of Seiyun and Tarim, as part of the escalation called for by the "Youth of Anger" assembly.

Pictures showed a number of closed streets and shops in the districts of Al-Qattan and Tarim.

In a statement to "South24 Center", senior STC official accused the Northern officer Yahya Abu Auja, the former Chief of Staff of the FMD, of overseeing the crackdown.

The STC office director in Seiyun, Abdulrahman al-Jafri, said: "The Northern officer Abu Auja, oversaw the suppression of the people of Seiyun and Hadramout, but the disobedience succeeded by 90%."

In an official statement, the STC condemned the crackdown on the people of Wadi Hadramout.

The STC spokesperson Ali Al-Kathiri said: "Once again, the FMD expressed its terrorist nature when it confronted Seyiun's youth with bullets."

He added, "We affirm our full support for the people of Wadi Hadramout and their demands to transfer the forces of the FMD to the battlefronts with the Houthis in implementation of the Riyadh agreement."

The Hadrami official Al-Kathiri said that the STC "will not allow the devotion of the reality represented by the FMD since its invasion of Hadramout in 1994."

The STC in Hadramout also demanded the release of detainees without conditions, and warned of the repercussions of the repression of peaceful protesters.

These developments come days after the statements of the former Chief of Staff of the FMD Brigadier General Yahya Abu Auja in which he threatened the people of Hadramout, who demanded the removal of the FMD's forces from Hadramout.

Last Tuesday, the Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) issued a decision to dismiss Abu Auja from his position as the Staff of the FMD and to appoint Colonel Amer bin Hatian in his place.

Related: Presidential Decisions in Wadi Hadramout Coinciding with Popular Escalation

Until now, Abu Auja still commands the 135th Infantry Brigade, the largest Northern brigade in the oil-rich Wadi Hadramout, within the FMD.