Yemen’s Hadramout to launch ‘peaceful operation’ to reclaim military sites, says region’s Saudi-backed governor

By Ahmed Elimam and Jana Choukeir

DUBAI, Jan 2 (Reuters) – The Saudi-backed governor of Yemen’s Hadramout province said on Friday he would launch a peaceful operation to take back military positions from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, but that the actions were not a declaration of war. 

The move marks the latest escalation in war-torn Yemen where a rift between Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who back opposing sides, has been playing out since December. 

Once the twin pillars of regional security, the two Gulf heavyweights have seen their interests diverge on everything from oil quotas to geopolitical influence.

OPERATION TARGETS MILITARY SITES

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said in a statement on Friday it had appointed Hadramout Governor Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi to take overall command of the “Homeland Shield” forces in the eastern province, granting him full military, security and administrative authority in what it said was a move to restore security and order.

“This is not a declaration of war,” the governor said in a speech on Yemen TV, adding that the move aims to prevent the use of camps to threaten security and to protect Hadramout from sliding into chaos.

A spokesperson for the STC, Mohammed al-Naqeeb, said later on Friday that forces were on full alert across the region and warned that it was ready to respond forcefully in a post on X. 

The UAE backs the STC, which seized large swathes of southern Yemen last month from the internationally recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia, which in turn saw the move as a threat.

The UAE last week said it was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for its forces to leave within 24 hours in one of the severest disagreements between the two Gulf oil powers to ever play out in public.

The move briefly eased tensions but disagreements between the various groups on the ground in Yemen have persisted since then. 

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are both major players in the OPEC oil exporters’ group, and any disagreements between them could hamper consensus on oil output.

They and six other OPEC+ members meet online on Sunday, and OPEC+ delegates have said they will extend a policy of maintaining first-quarter production unchanged.

ADEN AIRPORT SHUT 

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen also on Friday blamed STC leader Aidarus Al-Zubaidi for refusing to grant landing permission the previous day for a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden.

A halt in flights at Aden international airport on Thursday continued into Friday as both sides traded blame as to who was responsible for the air traffic shutdown.  

“For several weeks and until yesterday, the Kingdom sought to make all efforts with the Southern Transitional Council to end the escalation … but it faced continuous rejection and stubbornness from Aidarus Al-Zubaidi,” the Saudi ambassador, Mohammed Al-Jaber, said on X.

Zubaidi issued directives to close air traffic at Aden’s airport on Thursday, the ambassador added, saying that a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden aiming to find solutions to the crisis was denied permission to land. 

In a statement on Thursday, the STC-controlled Transport Ministry in turn accused Saudi Arabia of imposing an air blockade, saying Riyadh required all flights to go via Saudi Arabia for extra checks.

Aden’s international airport is the main gateway for regions of the country outside Houthi control.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam, Jana Choukeir and Maha El Dahan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Sharon Singleton)