Aden (South24 Center)

On Sunday December 21, tens of thousands of people gathered at Al-Oroud Square in the capital Aden, to support calls for the restoration of the South Arabia State and to endorse recent military operations by Southern forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra governorates.

The demonstration is part of a sustained popular and media-driven movement that has been ongoing for more than two weeks in Aden and several other South Yemen’s cities, amid rapidly evolving security and military developments in the eastern part of South Yemen.

Participants waved South Yemen flags and carried banners calling for the declaration of independence of the South Arabia State. They also expressed support for the Southern Transitional Council and the military operations being carried out by Southern Armed Forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra.

According to a South24 Center correspondent, attendees traveled from neighboring governorates, particularly from the Yafa’a areas in Lahj and Abyan. The rally is considered the largest of its kind in Aden since the start of an open sit-in earlier this month, and one of the largest in recent years.

These demonstrations come amid heightened tensions across the country, as people of the South continue to push for the restoration of the South Arabia State based on the pre-1990 borders prior to Yemen’s unification.