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Airstrikes targeted an airport and a military base in Yemen’s Seiyun on Friday as a Saudi-led coalition seeks to counter advances by UAE-backed separatist forces, a source from the group and eyewitnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Several strikes hit Seiyun airport and a nearby military base, according to a military source from the Southern Transitional Council, or STC. Eyewitnesses told AFP they heard explosions and saw attacks on both sites in the city, located in eastern Yemen.
The strikes came amid escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the STC, which controls large parts of southern Yemen and is backed by the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber, said Friday that STC leader Aidarus al-Zubaidi refused to grant landing clearance to an aircraft carrying an official Saudi delegation to the southern city of Aden a day earlier.
In a statement posted on X, Al-Jaber said Aden airport was closed Wednesday following directives issued by the STC leadership. The closure led to the suspension of air traffic and the cancellation of several civilian flights, including the Saudi delegation’s scheduled arrival on Thursday.
Al-Jaber warned that shutting down one of Yemen’s few functioning airports represents a dangerous escalation that could complicate political and security efforts to reduce tensions and undermine coordination with regional and international partners.
He described the move as “an irresponsible act” that “undermines political, military and security coordination,” calling it “a dangerous precedent reflecting an insistence on escalation and rejection of de-escalation paths.”
Al-Jaber accused al-Zubaidi of prioritizing “personal political and financial interests” and pursuing agendas “that have no relation to the Southern cause in particular, nor to Yemen in general.”
On Thursday, the STC announced the suspension of operations at Aden International Airport, the main air gateway for Yemeni areas outside Houthi control. The airport operates flights to destinations including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Al-Jaber said al-Zubaidi had taken “unilateral decisions” inconsistent with his role as a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, including leading a military offensive targeting Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra provinces. He said the actions resulted in security breakdowns and civilian casualties.
The Saudi envoy reiterated that the kingdom “has supported and continues to support the Southern cause as a just issue,” but stressed that its resolution “must come through political dialogue.”
Hadhramaut’s local authority condemned the STC’s actions in a Facebook statement, describing the airport closure as an “unprecedented escalation” and “a clear declaration of rejecting the option of peace and political dialogue that the Kingdom seeks to entrench.”
The authority said the move underscores an insistence on military escalation and threatens stability in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra.
According to the statement, the Saudi delegation had been carrying a de-escalation proposal aimed at preventing bloodshed, withdrawing forces from military camps in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra, handing them over to government-aligned Nation’s Shield Forces, and prioritizing political dialogue as the sole path to resolving the southern issue.
Yemen has seen heightened tensions since Tuesday following what officials described as an unprecedented escalation after STC forces took control of Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra in early December. The two provinces account for nearly half of Yemen’s territory and share borders with Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia accused the United Arab Emirates earlier this week of pushing STC forces to conduct military operations along the kingdom’s southern border in Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra. Abu Dhabi denied the accusation.
Tensions intensified further after the Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike targeting what it said were weapons that had arrived at the port of Mukalla in Hadhramaut aboard two ships from the UAE’s Fujairah port.
The UAE later said the weapons were designated exclusively for its forces and announced the end of the mission of its “counterterrorism teams in Yemen,” noting it had ended its military presence within the coalition in 2019.
The STC says successive Yemeni governments have marginalized southern regions politically and economically and has long called for secession. Yemeni authorities reject the claim and reaffirm their commitment to the country’s unity.
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