A senior leader in the Southern Movement has survived an assassination attempt along with his family in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, local sources said.
According to the source, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) militia opened fire on Judge Manaf al-Hatari’s car while he was travelling with family members passing at the entrance point of Workers Island in Khur Maksar district on Thursday.
Activists on social media denounced the assassination attempt on al-Hatari, who serves as deputy to the head of the Sharia Fatwa and Guidance Authority and a participant in the Southern Dialogue Team in Aden.
They described the attack as a “cowardly and criminal act,” asserting that this assassination attempt on al-Hatari was a premeditated crime.
The Southern Movement is generally supportive of South Yemeni separatism or autonomy, but is independent from foreign control by the UAE or Saudi Arabia, which could explain the apparent Emirati interest in al-Hatari’s assassination.
