Saudi-backed Yemeni govt attacks UAE-backed separatists
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has launched an operation to retake military positions from UAE-backed southern separatists and said it had retaken one of the largest military camps in Hadramout province.
The operation in Hadramout marks the latest tension in Yemen, where the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which backs opposing sides, has continued since December.
Once two pillars of regional security, the Gulf heavyweights have seen their interests diverge on everything from oil quotas to geopolitical influence.
Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi, the Saudi-backed governor of Hadramout, said on Friday that his forces had taken control of a military camp in al-Khasha’a, the largest and most important base in the province.
The governor had previously said his forces had launched a “peaceful” operation.
A senior official of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) told Reuters that the operation was not peaceful.
“By declaring a peaceful operation, Saudi Arabia misled the international community knowing that they did not intend to maintain peace,” Amr Al Bidh said in a statement. he said.
“This was proven by the fact that they launched an airstrike seven minutes later,” he said.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the airstrikes.
It was not clear if there were any casualties.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE increased after the STC moved into Yemen’s Hadramout and Mahra governorates last month and seized an oil-rich region.
This move removed forces from the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group affiliated with the coalition in the fight against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, from the region.
Saudi naval forces have been deployed along the Arabian Sea to conduct inspections and combat smuggling, Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said on Friday.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it had appointed Hadramout’s governor to assume overall command of “Homeland Shield” forces in the eastern province, giving him full military, security and administrative authority in a move to restore security and order.
“This is not a declaration of war,” the governor said in his speech on Yemen TV, adding that this move aims to prevent the camps from being used in a way that threatens security and to protect Hadramout from being dragged into chaos.
The oil-producing province of Hadramout borders Saudi Arabia and many prominent Saudis have roots in the region, giving it cultural and historical significance for the kingdom.
STC spokesman Mohammed al-Naqeeb said on Friday that forces were on full alert across the region and warned in a post on X that it was ready to respond strongly.
STC’s Bidh told Reuters that three of the airstrikes targeted the al-Khasha’a military camp.
Three Yemeni sources told Reuters that armored vehicles belonging to the Saudi-backed government were moving towards the Khasha’a camp, which has the capacity to house thousands of soldiers and was taken over by the STC in December.
The UAE supports the STC, which seized large swathes of southern Yemen last month from the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia, making the movement a threat.
The UAE said last week it was withdrawing its remaining forces from Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for its forces to leave within 24 hours in one of the most serious public disputes ever between the two Gulf oil powers.
This move eased tensions for a short time, but disputes between various groups in Yemen have continued ever since.
with AP
