Aqabah Thara and years of closure.. Hopes to reopen it
English - Wednesday 11 May 2022 الساعة 09:42 am
Aden, NewsYemen, special:
In August 2015, the Houthi militia closed the link between the Lauder district of the Abyan and Al-Bayda governorates, after it collapsed and fled from Abyan and the central region.
Since that date, Aqabah Thara , which represents the only artery in the central region of Abyan governorate, has been closed, causing prices to rise, diverting passenger routes and transporting goods and vegetables to other distant governorates.
Aqabah Thera is the only road linking Lawdar with Mukiras, and citizens in Abyan and al-Bayda were affected by its closure, as it represented the first line for traders and farmers in transporting their goods and products between the two governorates and other governorates.
Months ago, social figures tried to open the way after meetings they had collected with Houthi and tribal leaders in Al-Bayda governorate, as well as local leaders and officials in Abyan governorate However, it later failed due to the intransigence of the militias and the obstruction of local officials in Abyan who feared that their looting of revenues from smuggling oil derivatives through the rugged roads of Halhul would stop.
With the announcement of the truce last month and the talk of opening roads in other governorates, the citizens of Abyan rejoiced at the opening of the aqabah Thara . The residents and activists in the governorate called on the local authority and the competent authorities to place the opening of a hurdle among the roads that are being consulted about opening them in Taiz, Marib and Al Dhale’e.
Thousands of residents of Abyan and Al-Bayda are waiting for the Houthi authority to open the aqabah, whose closure has become a collective punishment that only affects innocent citizens who are forced, in normal circumstances, to travel a distance that does not require less than an hour of travel to take a risky adventure on a journey that takes more From mid-day through very rugged roads to reach Al-Bayda.
The militias are able to open the aqabah, especially since they closed it by placing stones, concrete and dust on top of the aqabah, where they control.
Journalist Saleh Al-Alwani said in his publication, “Aqabah Thara” in Lauder city was for all of us an outlet and a holiday shrine par excellence, which we aspire to every Eid and on every occasion that comes upon us with what it represents of a major artery linking Lauder and Mukiras until the war came and closed like other crossings and closed roads Throughout Yemen, an unjust siege was imposed on us, the people of Lauder, and on our brothers in Mukiras, and everything was cut off from us and from them as well.
Al-Alwani, who is one of the sons of Lawdar, added seven years of the economic siege and the catastrophic and unspeakable damage it left behind, and great suffering for the sons of Lawdar and Mukiras. And the need to put the issue of Fatah as an “obstacle” within the consultations and agreements to open roads and crossings as an urgent humanitarian issue that must receive sufficient support and alleviate suffering.
Activist Wadih al-Faqir stressed that only the citizen was affected by the closure of Aqabat Thara.
Al-Faqir said, in a post on his Facebook, that the news of the re-opening of Haradh port, as well as the al-Baqqa port, will soon open, and in Taiz the road leading to Sanaa will be opened, and this is good news.
He added that only (aqabah Thara) is still neglected, and it is still blocking the faces of travelers and passersby, and we do not know when it will come back to life?!
He continued: Everyone is harmed by its continued closure, the citizen is harmed, the merchant is harmed, the whole north is harmed and the south, and no one cares about the matter.
Al-Faqeer explained that reopening aqabah Thara will lead to a decrease in the prices of many foodstuffs and vegetables, noting that the only person affected by the continuation of its closure is the citizen, concluding, "How long will this situation continue?"
