Saudi-backed forces moved to capture major cities in southern Yemen on Thursday after Riyadh accused the UAE of helping separatist leaders flee.
Citing “credible information”, Yemen’s Saudi-led coalition said Aidars al-Zubaidi, head of Yemen’s UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), left the country by boat for Somaliland “in the middle of the night”, then boarded a plane bound for Mogadishu, before being transferred to Abu Dhabi’s military airport.
CNN has contacted the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government’s interior ministry said in a statement that the government-allied National Shield Force (NSF) had “secured” the southern city of Aden and the security situation was “under control.” The NSF posted a video on social media showing a large convoy of military vehicles sent to “ensure the security of several states” in the south, which was captured by the STC and its allied militias. CNN cannot independently verify that claim.
Aden has been the seat of Yemen’s government since Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a military intervention by Saudi Arabia and the UAE a year later. Government officials stationed in the area fled to Riyadh when al-Zubaidi’s southern forces launched a military offensive to take control of the area last month.
Over the past decade, the domestic policies of the UAE and Saudi Arabia have drifted apart, favoring opposing factions. In particular, the UAE’s support for southern separatists was inconsistent with Saudi Arabia’s support for a united and stable Yemen on its borders. The UAE withdrew most of its troops from Yemen in 2019, but a small number of troops, known as counterterrorism forces, remained.
In early December, the advance of STC forces into key southern Yemeni provinces infuriated Riyadh and sparked an unprecedented public conflict with the neighboring Emirates, culminating in Saudi airstrikes against UAE shipments and calls by the Yemeni government for remaining UAE troops to leave the country within 24 hours, a move supported by Saudi Arabia.
After the UAE withdrew, Yemeni government forces, supported by Saudi air power, launched a counterattack that drove the separatists into their former stronghold of Aden. Under intense military pressure, the STC leadership agreed to hold talks in Riyadh aimed at calming the conflict.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday that al-Zubaidi was scheduled to accompany the STC delegation, but instead mobilized “large-scale military forces” and caused “chaos and unrest.”
Following the statement, Yemen’s internationally recognized government accused al-Zubaidi of “high treason” and “inciting civil war.”
STC diplomatic official Amr Albid said in a briefing on Tuesday that the delegation of more than 50 STC officials had not been in touch since arriving in Riyadh. A photo posted to X by Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen on Wednesday showed him meeting with officials in the capital.
“The message[from Saudi Arabia]was, either you come or we become the enemy, this is your last chance,” Arbid said.
CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for comment.
