“Looting Committees”: Southern Transitional Council Militia Rampages Through Hadramawt, Reports Reveal Blatant Regional Discrimination

Tensions and security concerns are rapidly escalating in the Wadi and Desert of Hadramawt in eastern Yemen, amid mounting reports accusing the UAE-backed militias of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) of carrying out a systematic escalation of repressive practices and large-scale looting operations targeting political opponents and residents originating from Yemen’s northern governorates.

Media reports, including an investigation aired by Al-Mahriya TV, indicate that STC militias have begun forming armed “committees” whose primary task is to raid the homes of political rivals and deliberately target northerners in the region—signaling a shift from isolated violations to a structured and directed campaign.

In a related development, a widely circulated and emotionally charged video on social media shows a woman from the northern governorates recounting her personal ordeal after STC militia members looted her family’s sheep—their sole source of livelihood.

The woman stated that the looting was not limited to livestock alone; it also included the theft of batteries, personal identification documents, and the ransacking of household contents belonging to local residents.

These abuses have driven residents to desperate measures, attempting to camouflage and conceal the locations of their livestock in an effort to protect them from theft.

Meanwhile, local and military sources have revealed extensive looting of weapons, ammunition, and equipment from abandoned camps of the First Military Region militia, most notably Al-Khash‘ah Camp.

In what is seen as clear evidence of explicit regional targeting, a recent incident in the city of Seiyun documented STC elements tearing the uniform of a soldier for wearing the flag of the Republic of Yemen on his shoulder. The assault—which spread widely online—was described as a blatant expression of regional extremism aimed at entrenching hate speech and deepening divisions within the governorate.

These developments come amid serious fears that the organized looting operations and repeated attacks against northerners will further exacerbate security chaos and endanger civilian lives and property—particularly following the STC militia’s takeover of the oil plateau with Emirati support.