Saudi-led coalition strikes Yemen, says STC leader al-Zubaidi has fled

After their leader fled without getting on a plane scheduled to take him to Riyadh, the Saudi-led coalition-led coalition in Yemen has launched strikes against the southern Dhale governorate of the nation.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC), led by Aidarous al-Zubaidi, was scheduled to leave the Yemeni city of Aden on Tuesday night for talks about ending the conflict between his organization and the internationally renowned Yemeni government, according to a statement released early on Wednesday.

However, al-Zubaidi did not board the plane, and instead “flwd to an unknown location” according to the statement.

His whereabouts are still unknown.

According to the statement, “al-Zubaidi mobilized a significant force, including armoured and combat vehicles, heavy and light weapons, as well as munitions,” the legitimate government and the coalition were informed at this time.

Around midnight, the force left Aden, and they were later discovered in the Dhale governorate, according to the report. To stop those forces and stop al-Zubaidi’s “attempt to escalate the conflict,” the coalition launched “preemptive strikes” at 4am local time (01:00 GMT), the statement continued.

The STC did not respond right away.

In December, the council launched an offensive against Saudi-backed government troops in the south of Yemen after initially backing the internationally recognized government’s opposition to the Houthi rebels who rule northern Yemen.

The United Arab Emirates supports the organization.

Their advance broke years of unrest, with the STC taking control of large areas of southern Yemen, including the Hadramout and Mahra provinces, despite Riyadh’s warnings.

Mahra is close to the border while Hadramout borders Saudi Arabia. Nearly half of Yemeni territory is made up of the provinces all together.

On December 30th, Riyadh launched air strikes on Yemeni port Mukalla in support of a call for UAE forces to leave the nation. It targeted what it called a shipment of weapons allegedly linked to the UAE.

Abu Dhabi disputed the shipment’s existence of weapons and pledged to safeguard Riyadh’s security. It put an end to what it called its “counterterrorism mission” in Yemen shortly afterward.

The STC announced on Saturday that it would attend Saudi Arabian-hosted peace talks, and the Yemeni government troops continued to reclaim Hadramout and Mahra after Saudi Arabian air attacks.

The Saudi-led coalition reported on Wednesday that the STC delegation headed to Riyadh on their way out of Yemen, excluding al-Zubaidi, in the early hours of the morning.

Rashad al-Alimi, the head of the internationally renowned government’s Presidential Leadership Council, also announced that al-Zubaidi had been expelled for “commiting high treason.”