Local media reported that at noon local time today (26 December), Saudi Arabian warplanes launched multiple airstrikes on military positions of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen’s eastern Hadhramaut Governorate. Sources indicated that the airstrikes have caused casualties among the armed personnel affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council, though no further details have been available so far. Saudi Arabia has also yet to respond to the relevant reports.
Since 2014, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have gradually seized control of northern and northwestern Yemen. Southern and eastern Yemen have been fragmented with multiple factions in existence: the internationally recognized Yemeni government maintains its influence in some ports and cities, while the Southern Transitional Council and several local armed groups hold de facto power in Aden Governorate and a number of southern coastal areas.
Founded in May 2017, the Southern Transitional Council aims to secure the right to self-determination and ultimate independence for southern Yemen. Although the council has been part of the Saudi-led multinational coalition against the Houthi rebels since 2022 and joined the Presidential Leadership Council, an executive body of the Yemeni government, it has persisted in demanding the exercise of “sovereignty” over southern Yemen. This has repeatedly triggered conflicts between the council and the Yemeni government over power distribution and resource control.
Earlier this month, the Southern Transitional Council, which is widely believed to be backed by the United Arab Emirates, expelled the Saudi-supported, internationally recognized Yemeni government from its headquarters in Aden, Yemen’s southern “temporary capital”, and claimed to have taken control of most parts of southern Yemen.
On 25 December, Saudi Arabia stated that it hoped the Southern Transitional Council would de-escalate the situation and withdraw its troops from Hadhramaut and Mahra Governorates.
Earlier today, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, noting that “the United Arab Emirates reaffirms its firm commitment to continue supporting all efforts aimed at enhancing stability and development in Yemen.”
