Saudi-led coalition targets weapons shipments from UAE to Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council, escalating tensions between the Gulf allies.
RIYADH: The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen has conducted airstrikes targeting weapons and combat vehicles it says were shipped from the United Arab Emirates to separatist forces.
Saudi state news agency SPA reported the coalition targeted the shipments as they were being offloaded at the port of al-Mukalla in Yemen on Tuesday.
“The crews of the two ships disabled their tracking systems and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the Southern Transitional Council forces,” SPA stated.
It said the ships had arrived from the port of Fujairah on the UAE’s east coast.
The coalition stated the operation was conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law and caused no collateral damage.
This military action follows weeks of advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, which seeks an independent South Yemen.
The STC has seized large swathes of territory in Hadramawt and Mahrah provinces, expelling other government forces.
These gains have strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which support rival factions within Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
The attack comes days after reported Saudi airstrikes on separatist positions in Hadramawt.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for restraint, urging “continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution.”
Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman urged STC forces to “peacefully hand over” two regional governorates to the government.
“It’s time at this sensitive moment to let reason prevail by withdrawing from the two provinces and doing so peacefully,” he posted on social media platform X.
The STC warned it remains undeterred after strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia hit its positions.
Supporters of the separatists have held large weekly rallies in cities like Aden, demanding a declaration of independence.
Footage aired by the separatist-affiliated Aden Independent Channel showed crowds waving the South Yemen independence flag alongside the UAE’s flag.
A Yemeni military official said on Friday that approximately 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were amassed near the Saudi border but had not been ordered to advance.
The Yemeni government is a fragile alliance of groups, including the separatists, united by opposition to the Iran-backed Houthi movement.
The Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and control much of northern Yemen.
