Yemeni separatists accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes
Kyiv • UNN
Separatists in southern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia of airstrikes on their forces in Hadhramaut after a warning about troop withdrawal. This escalates the situation in the country and jeopardizes the coalition fighting the Houthis.
Separatists in southern Yemen on Friday accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against their forces, which the kingdom did not immediately acknowledge after warning the forces to withdraw from governorates they had recently seized, AP reports, writes UNN.
Details
The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council said the strikes occurred in Yemen's Hadramawt governorate. It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties from the strikes, but it further escalates tensions in the war-torn country and jeopardizes the fragile Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the north for a decade.
Amr Al-Bidh, the Council's special representative for foreign affairs, told The Associated Press that its fighters were operating in eastern Hadramawt after "numerous ambushes" by armed individuals. According to Al-Bidh, these attacks killed two Council fighters and wounded 12 others.
He added that the Saudi airstrikes occurred afterward.
Faiz bin Omar, a leading member of a tribal coalition in Hadramawt, told AP that he believed the strikes served as a warning for the Council to withdraw its fighters from the area.
The Council's satellite channel, AIC, broadcast video footage it said was recorded from a mobile phone, which they claimed showed the strikes. In one video, a man could be heard blaming Saudi planes for the strike.
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to AP's request for comment. On Thursday, the kingdom called on UAE-backed separatists in southern Yemen to withdraw their troops.
Earlier this month, the Council moved into Yemen's Hadramawt and Mahra governorates. This displaced forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the coalition fighting the Houthis.
Addition
Those affiliated with the Council are increasingly flying the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967 to 1990. Demonstrators gathered on Thursday in the southern port city of Aden to support political forces calling for the re-secession of South Yemen from Yemen.
After the Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and much of the north of the country in 2014, Aden became a center of power for the internationally recognized government and forces united against the Houthi rebels.
The separatists' actions have strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which maintain close ties and are members of the OPEC oil cartel, but have also competed for influence and international business in recent years.
There has also been an escalation of violence in Sudan, another Red Sea nation where the kingdom and the Emirates support opposing forces in that country's ongoing war.
On Friday, the UAE stated that it "welcomes the efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security and stability" in Yemen.
"The UAE reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to supporting all efforts aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen, positively contributing to regional security and prosperity," they added.