Maroosha Muzaffar
Saudi Arabia conducted airstrikes early on Tuesday against Yemeni separatist forces backed by the UAE, adding to the complexity of the protracted conflict.
The UAE was until not very long ago a part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, who are aligned with their regional rival Iran and govern most of Yemen. The renewed fighting centres on the Southern Transitional Council, a separatist group backed by the UAE that controls parts of southern Yemen. The STC has in recent days pushed into new areas, including the port city of Mukalla in Hadramout which had been held by Saudi-aligned forces.
Riyadh said these advances crossed a red line. On Tuesday, Saudi warplanes struck targets in Mukalla, claiming they were aimed at UAE weapons shipments for the STC. Riyadh said in a statement that the ships had switched off their tracking systems and unloaded arms and armoured vehicles that posed an immediate threat.
“The crews had the disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels and unloaded a large number of weapons and combat vehicles in support of Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” it said. “Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla.” The STC voiced “serious concern” about the strikes, claiming they specifically targeted its elite units in Hadhramaut, a strategic province bordering Saudi Arabia.
Saudi officials stressed the strikes were carried out overnight to ensure “no collateral damage occurred”.
The airstrikes mark a sharp escalation between Saudi Arabia and the STC and publicly expose growing friction between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. The neighbours have backed different groups inside Yemen despite being partners for much of the war against the Houthis. The Saudi foreign ministry directly warned the UAE over its role. Abu Dhabi’s backing of the STC was “extremely dangerous”, it said, urging the neighbouring country to take measures to preserve bilateral relations. Riyadh called the UAE’s support for STC a “threat to the kingdom’s national security as well as to security and stability in the Republic of Yemen and the region”. In a separate statement, Riyadh said its “national security was a red line”. It also said the UAE should heed a call by the chief of Yemen’s presidential council for Emirati forces to leave the country. He also warned the STC’s actions could complicate regional security and international efforts to safeguard maritime routes, energy supplies, and commercial shipping in the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden. Saudi Arabia echoed these concerns. On 25 December, the kingdom emphasised that recent STC military movements were an “unjustified escalation” and harmed Yemenis and the coalition’s broader objectives. The STC, for its part, seeks to restore South Yemen as an independent state, reviving borders that existed before the country unified in 1990. Its supporters have recently flown the flag of South Yemen and held demonstrations calling for secession.
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