Flights from Aden airport in Yemen halted amid latest tensions

In Yemen, there are still ongoing tensions between the separatist group known as the STC and the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government in Yemen, which was supported by the Saudi-backed STC.

All flights at the airport were suspended on Thursday, according to a report from the Reuters news agency, but no further information about flight operations or possible resumes were provided.

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The Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting the Houthi invasion of large parts of Yemen has formally supported the STC. The STC, however, also wants to establish a separate country in southern Yemen, and in December, expanded its military presence in the Saudi-admiral provinces of Hadramout and al-Mahrahra, causing tensions to rise quickly.

Saudi Arabia has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the separatist group’s expansion into Hadramout and al-Mahra, which Riyadh claims pose a threat to its national security, and the United Arab Emirates, which is also a member of the anti-Houthi coalition. The UAE has refuted those claims, saying it supports Saudi Arabia’s security.

The STC has since rejected demands from Yemen’s Riyadh-backed Presidential Leadership Council and Saudi Arabia for their troops to leave Yemen, despite the UAE having since agreed to do so.

The internationally renowned government’s STC-aligned Transport Ministry claimed on Thursday that Saudi Arabia had instituted new regulations mandating that all flights to and from Aden airport be subject to Jeddah inspection.

The ministry expressed shock at the decision, noting that Saudi authorities later clarified that the restriction only applied to flights between Aden and the United Arab Emirates.

A Saudi source claimed that Yemen’s internationally recognized government, led by the Presidential Leadership Council, was responsible for the restriction on flights to the UAE.

Thabet al-Ahmadi, the Yemeni president’s adviser, confirmed to Al Jazeera that a one-way flight requirement was required that included the Aden airport departure. He claimed that the action was to stop STC money being smuggled.

Al-Ahmadi claimed that the government was against a complete stop to air traffic and that it wanted to keep air traffic flown smoothly.

The UAE made a voluntarily withdrawal of its remaining “counterterrorism” forces from Yemen earlier this week. Following Riyadh’s attack on what it claimed was a shipment of weapons from the UAE, Mukalla, in southern Sudan, came that attack.

The internationally renowned government in Yemen, led by Rashad al-Alimi, warned on Wednesday that any actions taken by the STC to further strengthen their hold in the provinces would have severe consequences.

The STC has, however, maintained its defiance, promising to remain in the provinces.

However, STC spokesman Mohammed al-Naqeeb claimed that the organization was coordinating its movements with the provinces’ primary security force prior to the STC offensive. The Saudi-led coalition and the Yemeni government are associated with Homeland Shield.