80 Yemeni separatists killed in clashes, strikes: military official
At least 152 members of the UAE-backed STC forces were injured and 130 taken prisoner, the official said, giving a preliminary figure of casualties since the start of the Saudi-backed operation.
Forces backed by Riyadh began operations on Friday to retake chunks of territory seized by the Abu Dhabi-backed STC, as the fight for dominance deepens the rift between the two Gulf allies.
Most of the casualties occurred in attacks by the Saudi-led coalition targeting military camps held by separatists, including Al-Khasha and Barshid military camps in Hadramawt province, the official said.
At least 14 fighters were killed in the clashes and more than 30 were injured during the attack, an official from the Saudi-backed forces told AFP later Sunday.
Yemen’s presidency announced on Saturday the recapture of resource-rich Hadramawt, following the apparent withdrawal of the STC.
On Saturday, Riyadh-based government military officials also said officials in neighboring Mahra province had rejected their allegiance without encountering any resistance. On Sunday, Saudi-backed forces consolidated their positions in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, two government military officials told AFP.
But amid the chaos of the fighting and rapid retreats, a police official in Mukalla told AFP that at least 18 suspected militants linked to Al Qaeda had escaped from a local detention center in the port city.
Local residents also reported sporadic clashes between forces loyal to the STC and Saudi-backed fighters in Mahra province.
‘Massive’ strikes
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have long supported rival factions in Yemen’s divided government.
The STC’s December offensive, in which it seized control of Hadramawt and Mahra, angered Saudi Arabia and exposed cracks in the ties between the two oil-rich powers.
The Saudi-led coalition has issued repeated warnings and launched airstrikes last week, including over allegations that the United Arab Emirates was shipping arms to separatists.
According to the separatist group’s previous statement, 20 people died in the attack on the Al-Khasha military camp in Hadhramaut on Friday.
On Saturday, a military official from the STC told AFP that Saudi warplanes launched “intense” air strikes on another of the group’s camps in Barshid, west of Mukalla.
Yemen’s government is made up of a splinter group of groups, including separatists, and is held together by common opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis.
The Houthis forced the government out of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and took control of much of the north.
The Iran-backed group has been engaged in a conflict with the Saudi-led coalition-backed government since 2015, killing hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and triggering a major humanitarian crisis.
