On August 30, 2023, members of the Shabwah Defense Forces, affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), stormed a student residence in Al-Nassab, Ataq city and detained several students.

According to media reports, all of the abducted students were from Marib governorate. The military forces had previously imposed an entry ban for travelers coming from the northern governorate and deported individuals who traveled to Ataq.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the storming of a university and the abduction of students by armed individuals. Parties to a conflict have an obligation to refrain from encroaching on institutional autonomy or physical violence against noncombatants, including members of higher education communities. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such attacks undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://alwaalalyemeni.com/%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%84-%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%AF%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84/
https://en.ypagency.net/302870
https://www.aljanoobalyoum.net/71417/