Local forces trained and funded by the UAE and pledging allegiance to the Southern Transition Council (STC) announced they had taken control of the island of Socotra on 20 June. They have displaced governor Ramzi Mahrous who had been appointed by the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Mahrous is a Socotran with a well-established pedigree as a member of the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood-inclined Islah party. The STC has in his stead appointed Rafat Al-Thaqali as governor.
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