Forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen have accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes against their positions, marking a sharp escalation in tensions within the fragile anti-Houthi coalition, according to AP News.
The alleged strikes on Friday, which targeted the STC’s forces in the eastern part of the Hadramout governorate, came just one day after the kingdom publicly demanded the Emirati-backed group withdraw from recently captured territories.
According to Amr Al Bidh, a foreign affairs special representative for the Council, its fighters were operating in the area after facing “multiple ambushes” from gunmen that left two of its fighters dead and 12 wounded.
The Saudi airstrikes occurred subsequently, he stated. While Saudi officials did not immediately comment on the allegations, an eyewitness, Ahmed al-Khed, reported seeing destroyed military vehicles believed to belong to Council-allied forces following the strikes.
This military action, if confirmed, directly targets a key partner within the broad coalition that has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for nearly a decade. The STC, which seeks the secession of southern Yemen, had recently moved into the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra, displacing forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces.
The power struggle exposes deepening fissures between the coalition’s two principal patrons, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who maintain close ties but have increasingly competed for influence in the region.
The UAE issued a statement on Friday saying it “welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security and stability” in Yemen, reaffirming its commitment to supporting stability in the country.
However, the backing of opposing ground forces highlights a strategic divergence. This pattern is mirrored in other regional conflicts, such as the war in Sudan, where the two Gulf states also support rival factions.
The backdrop to this internal confrontation is Yemen’s devastating civil war, which began after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition, armed with US weaponry and intelligence, intervened the following year. The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people and precipitated one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
In recent months, the Houthis have further destabilised regional security by launching repeated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
