Official: Yemen government, STC to swap 200 prisoners

Forces loyal to Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) deploy at the entrance of Aden International Airport of the southern Yemeni city on 27 August 2020. [SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images]

Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) have agreed on a prisoner swap which will see 200 detainees handed over in the Abyan governorate, Anadolu reported.

The agency quoted a member of the mediation committee in Abyan, Sheikh Faisal Al-Marqashi, as saying that the Yemeni government will release 178 prisoners held in Shabwa governorate, while the STC will release 28 prisoners held in Aden.

The mediation committee includes tribal leaders and dignitaries from Abyan governorate in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The prisoners were captured during military confrontations between pro-government forces and the southern separatists in the governorates of Shabwa and Aden last year.

READ: All parties in Yemen committed war crimes, says UN rights expert

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