Saudi-backed Yemen gov’t retakes eastern port city
Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government says it has regained control of Mukalla, the key eastern port and capital of Hadramout province, from UAE-backed southern separatists who seized it last month.
The rapidly advancing crisis in Yemen has sparked a major fight between the two Gulf powers and splintered the coalition of forces led by the internationally recognized government fighting the Iran-backed Houthi movement.
The government’s rapid gains since Friday have reversed most of the gains made by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) last month and cast doubt on the feasibility of its intention to hold a referendum on independence within two years.
Saudi-backed forces had already taken control of key points in Hadramout, a large region of desert along the Saudi border.
Residents said STC forces blocked the roads leading from the northern provinces to Aden. The group on Saturday called on regional and international leaders to intervene against what it called “Saudi-backed military tensions.”
The statement said that Islamist groups in the north, “clearly referring to the internationally recognized Islah party, which is part of the government”, were targeting civilians and vital infrastructure.
The UAE, the main supporter of the STC, called for restraint, saying it was “deeply concerned” by the escalation in Yemen.
Yemen, divided between warring regions for a decade, is strategically located between Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which protects the vital sea route between Europe and Asia.
The STC is part of the internationally recognized government that has controlled southern and eastern Yemen for years and is supported by Gulf states against the Houthis.
The leader of this government, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Council, said he asked Saudi Arabia to host a forum to resolve the southern issue and hoped that it would bring together all southern groups.
Aden airport, the main transport hub for parts of Yemen outside Houthi control, has been closed since Thursday following a dispute over new restrictions on flights announced by the internationally recognized government with the UAE.
STC and Saudi Arabia accused each other of blocking air traffic. STC said in a statement on Saturday that southern Yemen remains subject to a land, sea and air blockade.
The crisis began early last month, when the STC suddenly seized several areas, including Hadramout, and established firm control over all territory of the former South Yemen province, which was merged with the north in 1990.
The leadership of the internationally recognized government, which is headquartered in Aden and includes several ministers from the STC, departed for Saudi Arabia, which saw the southern move as a threat to its security.
The crisis has triggered the biggest standoff between former close allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE in decades; Years of disagreement on critical issues have come to a head and threaten to upend the regional order.
Qatar, a member of the Gulf monarchy that has long had regional policy differences with the UAE, said it welcomed efforts by Yemen’s internationally recognized government to address the southern issue.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia bombed a base in Hadramout and demanded the departure of all remaining UAE forces in Yemen, calling it a red line for its security, and the UAE complied.
The STC’s announcement on Friday that it wanted a two-year transition period for a new South Arab state, leading to an independence referendum, was the clearest indication yet of the movement’s intention to secede.
