Saudi-backed government forces retake multiple cities in southern Yemen

As tensions between the regional Gulf Arab powers continue to grow, Yemeni government troops supported by Saudi Arabia have retaken control of a number of provinces.

After the operation began a day earlier, Rashad al-Alimi, head of the internationally renowned government in the divided country, claimed in a statement on Saturday that Saudi-backed Homeland Shield forces had “record success” in “retaking all military and security positions in the province” bordering Saudi Arabia.

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Crucially, the government announced that it had retaken control of Mukalla, a significant port and provincial capital in Hadramout province, from the STC, which seized it last month and which Saudi forces recently attacked.

Mohammed Omar Suwailam, the youth office’s director general, also disclosed to the Anadolu news agency on Sunday that Homeland Shield forces have taken control of all nine of the governorate’s nine districts following the STC forces’ withdrawal.

After STC forces took control of Hadramout and al-Mahra in early December, Yemen has experienced an unprecedented uptick in tensions. The two provinces, which share a border with Saudi Arabia and make up nearly half of Yemen’s territory, are now at the border.

Ahmed al-Shalafi, Al Jazeera’s Yemen affairs editor, claims that over the past day, Yemen’s political and military landscape has undergone significant changes.

He claimed that the Yemeni army and Homeland Shield forces were able to enter the battlefield and use force to escort the conflict.

Al-Shalafi added that the Yemeni government’s invitation to the Southern Transitional Council for a conference in Saudi Arabia was followed by the political action.

Attrition and tensions are high in Aden.

At least 80 STC fighters have died in fighting with Saudi-backed forces since Friday, according to a group official who spoke to the AFP news agency on Sunday.

The official claimed that 130 of the STC’s forces were taken captive and that at least 152 of them had been injured.

A military official with the STC reported to AFP on Saturday that Saudi airstrikes had “intense” air raids had taken place at one of the group’s camps in Barshid, west of Mukalla.

The STC applauded Saudi Arabia’s offer of dialogue, calling it a “genuine opportunity” to safeguard “the aspirations of the southern people.”

Local sources also reported to Al Jazeera that Seiyun, the region’s governorate of Hadramout, where work has been resumed in an effort to reactivate state institutions and ensure the continued provision of services to the population.

After the Homeland Shield forces seized control of the area, Hadramout Governor Salem Ahmed Said al-Khanbashi made an official visit to Wadi Hadramout’s Seiyun airport, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

But there are still a lot of tension and misunderstandings in the south.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government made a statement regarding the alleged restrictions the STC imposed in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.