Saudi Arabia on Friday signalled a hardening of its stance in southern Yemen by carrying out air strikes on forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), killing at least seven people. The strikes came a day after the Saudi-backed Yemeni government issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the United Arab Emirates to withdraw from the country, underlining growing tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi — rare rivals in an otherwise close regional partnership.
Saudi fighter jets targeted STC positions in southern Yemen, killing seven people, a separatist leader told AFP. Mohammed Abdulmalik, head of the STC in Wadi Hadramaut and the Hadramaut Desert, said seven air strikes hit the Al-Khasah camp, leaving seven dead and more than 20 wounded.
The latest escalation follows a Saudi air strike on Yemen’s port city of Mukalla on December 30, which Riyadh said was aimed at intercepting alleged weapons shipments supplied by the UAE. While Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners back the government of President Rashad al-Alimi, the UAE has supported the STC, which is pushing for secession in southern Yemen.
The STC seized large parts of Hadramawt, which borders Saudi Arabia, as well as neighbouring Mahra in December — advances Riyadh views as a direct threat to its national security.
Friday’s air strikes also came shortly after Saudi coalition forces, operating under the banner of the National Shield Forces, launched a campaign to “peacefully” take control of military sites in Hadramawt, according to AFP.
“The operation will not stop until the Southern Transitional Council withdraws from the two governorates,” a source close to the Saudi military was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen accused the STC leadership of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden, the Associated Press reported.
The STC, however, pushed back strongly. Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, accused Saudi Arabia of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in what he described as a “large-scale attack”. In a video posted on X, al-Nakib compared the situation to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, saying this time it was unfolding “under the cover of Saudi aviation operations”.
Earlier in the week, the Saudi-led coalition bombed Mukalla, claiming it was targeting shipments of weapons and armoured vehicles allegedly sent by the UAE to the STC. Abu Dhabi rejected the accusation, saying it respected Saudi Arabia’s national security concerns.
“The United Arab Emirates affirms its constant commitment to the security and stability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its full respect for its sovereignty and national security, and its rejection of any actions that could threaten the Kingdom’s security or that of the region,” the UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Also on Tuesday, Yemen’s internationally recognised government formally asked the UAE to exit the country.
Saudi Arabia leads the coalition backing Yemen’s government largely to prevent the Iran-aligned Houthis from consolidating control along its southern border. The UAE joined the coalition in 2015 but later pursued its own strategy, building influence in southern Yemen through local militias and eventually backing the STC — a divergence that has now brought the two Arab allies into open confrontation.