ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes reportedly attacked forces backed by the United Arab Emirates in southern Yemen on Friday, a separatist leader said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
This comes in the form of a Saudi-led operation in an attempt to capture camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout, which borders Saudi Arabia.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE escalated last month after the STC moved to Yemen’s governorates of Hadramaut and Mahrah to seize oil-rich fields. The move pushed back forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Force, a group aligned with the coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of preventing a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.
Strike at Hamdrmout
STC deputy and former Hamdarmout governor Ahmed bin Breek said in a statement that Saudi-backed National Shield forces advanced toward the camp, but the separatists refused to retreat, apparently leading to airstrikes.
Hadhramout Governor Salem al-Khanbashi, who was chosen by Yemen’s internationally recognized government on Friday to command Saudi-led forces in the governorate, called the current campaign “peaceful.”
“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech broadcast on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent lawlessness and camps from being used to undermine security in Hadramaut,” he added.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.
Alliance spokesperson Brigadier Dr. General Turki al-Maliki said on Friday X that a Saudi-backed naval force had been deployed to the Arabian Sea to inspect and fight smuggling.
increasing stress
In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said that the kingdom had made “every effort with the STC” for weeks to “stop the escalation” and urged the separatists to leave Hadramaut and Mahra, only to “face continued aggression and rejection by Aidarous al-Zubai chief.”
Al-Jaber said the latest development did not allow the Saudi delegation’s jet to land in Aden, despite agreeing with some STC leaders on its arrival to find a solution that would serve “all and the public interest”.
Saudi Arabia, affiliated with Yemen’s Ministry of Transport, STC, on Thursday imposed requirements for flights to and from Aden International Airport to be inspected in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and condemned the decision. There has been no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation told The Associated Press late Thursday that all flights from the UAE had been suspended until Saudi Arabia reversed these reported measures.
Yemen has been embroiled in civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the north, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also supports southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede from Yemen once again. Those allied with the council fly the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.
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Associated Press writers Bassem Mrou in Beirut and Fatma Khalid in Cairo contributed to this report.
