Yemeni separatists to attend Saudi talks after losing key southern sites

According to Yemeni media, Yemeni government troops supported by Saudi Arabia have successfully handed over all military installations in Hadramout and al-Mahra governorates from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) supported by the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Reuters news agency, a delegation led by STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi was scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for a peace conference, a potential indicator of progress toward a resolution of Yemen’s conflict, which has heightened tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

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Saudi Arabia bombed the city of Mukalla last week in a limited coalition operation aimed at cargo and weapons, leaving the city of Mukalla, the crucial eastern port and capital of Hadramout, for the past two days.

According to local sources, civil life has started to resume, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. While the city’s streets’ traffic has gradually increased, stores have opened their doors.

Since STC forces took control of Hadramout and al-Mahra in early December, the fractious nation has seen rising tensions. The two provinces share a border with Saudi Arabia and make up nearly half of Yemen’s territory.

According to Rashad al-Alimi, head of the internationally renowned government’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), “record success” was achieved by Yemen’s Saudi-backed Homeland Shield forces in regaining “all military and security positions” last week.

The Yemeni government announced on Friday that it had requested Saudi Arabia hold talks with separatists. The STC accepted the offer, but it is still unclear what the details and location of the talks will be.

renewed tensions

According to an STC official, at least 80 STC fighters had died as of Sunday, while 130 were taken captive and 152 were hurt.

After the STC claimed that Saudi Arabia had bombed its forces close to the border, killing seven people and injuring 20, in Hadramout, conflicted two days prior.

Saudi warplanes conducted “intense” air raids on one of the group’s camps at Barshid, west of Mukalla, according to a STC military official who also spoke to the AFP news agency.

The STC announced the start of a two-year transitional period toward declaring an independent state as fighting broke out, warning that southern Yemen would declare its independence “immediately” if there was no dialogue or if it was again attacked.

Hadramout Governor Salem al-Khanbashi defended the military’s actions, claiming that the STC’s efforts to “peacefully and systematically” reclaim the sites were not a declaration of war.

The government also accused the separatists of preventing tourists from entering Aden and called the STC’s restrictions on movement “a grave violation of the constitution and a violation of the Riyadh Agreement,” which was meant to broker peace between separatists and the government.

The conflict has remained tense between the UAE and Saudi Arabia outside of Yemen.

A decade-old military alliance that Riyadh established to fight the Houthis, who still hold control of Sanaa and northern Yemen, is made up of Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and the STC.

However, the trio’s growing tensions have increased as a result of the STC’s increasingly separatist approach, along with tit-for-tat accusations of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi-backed escalations.