Saudi-backed forces transfer to seize key Yemeni metropolis as disaster with UAE deepens

[ad_1] Saudi-backed forces moved to seize a key southern Yemeni metropolis on Thursday after Riyadh accused the UAE of serving to a separatist chief flee.

Citing “dependable intelligence,” the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen stated the chief of Yemen’s UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, left the nation by boat “at midnight” for Somaliland, earlier than boarding an plane to Mogadishu, which later transported him to a army airport in Abu Dhabi.

CNN has reached out to the UAE overseas ministry for remark.

The inside ministry of the Saudi-backed Yemeni authorities stated in a press release that government-allied Nationwide Defend Forces (NSF) had “secured” the southern metropolis of Aden and its safety scenario was “underneath management.” The NSF posted a video on social media exhibiting a big convoy of army automobiles mobilizing to “safe a number of provinces” within the south that had been captured by the STC and allied militias. CNN can not independently confirm the claims.

Aden had been the seat of Yemen’s authorities for the reason that Iran-backed Houthi motion took over the capital Sana’a in 2014, prompting a army intervention by Saudi Arabia and the UAE a yr later. Final month, authorities officers stationed there fled to Riyadh when the southern forces, led by Al Zubaidi, launched a army offensive to take over the realm final month.

Over the previous decade, UAE and Saudi agendas within the nation diverged, main them to assist rival factions. Particularly, the UAE’s backing of southern separatists was at odds with Saudi Arabia’s assist for a unified and secure Yemen at its border. The UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen in 2019, however a small contingent of what it referred to as counter terrorism forces remained.

The advance of STC forces throughout key southern Yemeni provinces early December infuriated Riyadh and triggered an unprecedented public dispute with its Emirati neighbor, culminating in Saudi airstrikes on UAE shipments and a name by the Yemeni authorities for the remaining UAE forces to go away the nation in 24 hours, which Saudi Arabia endorsed.

Following the UAE’s withdrawal, Yemeni authorities forces, with Saudi air assist, launched a counteroffensive that pushed the separatists to their former stronghold in Aden. Underneath intense army stress, the STC’s management agreed to carry talks in Riyadh aimed toward de-escalating the battle.

The Saudi-led coalition stated Wednesday that al-Zubaidi was anticipated to accompany the STC delegation, however as a substitute mobilized “a big army pressure” to create “chaos and unrest”.

Following the assertion, Yemen’s internationally acknowledged authorities accused al-Zubaidi of “excessive treason” for “inciting inside strife”.

An STC overseas affairs official, Amr Al-Bidh, stated in a briefing on Tuesday that the delegation of greater than fifty STC officers had been incommunicado since arriving in Riyadh. A photograph posted on X by the Saudi ambassador to Yemen on Wednesday confirmed him assembly with the officers within the capital.