Explosion Leaves Seven Separatist STC Fighters in Abyan

Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) said Friday that seven of its fighters were killed in an explosion.

The attack took place Friday afternoon in southern Yemen’s Abyan province, according to the movement’s spokesman.

More soldiers were wounded, he said.

A similar attack late last month left three STC soldiers killed.

The STC in September captured a base formerly held by Al-Qaeda militants in Abyan, where it is currently waging an ‘anti-terror’ campaign.

The STC controls many provinces of southern Yemen and seeks to separate from the war-ravaged country’s north.  An independent, Marxist state existed in southern Yemen between 1967 and 1990.

The STC’s military wing, the Security Belt, is trained and equipped by the UAE and is tasked with fighting against local insurgents and militants affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, who often wage attacks in the region and kill members of the STC.