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Yemen’s Saudi Arabia–led coalition carried out airstrikes Wednesday on the Al-Dhalea region, the home province of a UAE-backed separatist leader, after he was removed from the country’s Presidential Leadership Council and accused of high treason for attempting to secede.
The strikes came after reports that UAE-supported Southern Transitional Council (STC) President Aidarous al-Zubaidi fled the area, according to coalition and Yemeni officials.
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council announced that Zubaidi had been stripped of his council membership and referred for prosecution on charges of treason.
Arab Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the Yemeni government and coalition had received intelligence indicating that forces loyal to Zubaidi had mobilized a large contingent.
“These forces included armored and combat vehicles, heavy and light weapons, and ammunition,” al-Maliki said in a statement.
More than 15 airstrikes hit Al-Dhalea, Zubaidi’s home governorate, after STC forces seized large areas last month before their advance was rolled back by coalition-backed and pro-Saudi units.
Four people were killed in the strikes, according to two hospital sources cited by AFP.
The coalition said Zubaidi fled to an unknown location after distributing weapons and ammunition to dozens of fighters in Aden and mobilizing forces in southwestern Yemen.
Zubaidi had been scheduled to travel to Riyadh on Tuesday for talks aimed at de-escalating the clashes, but coalition officials said his plane departed without him after delays.
An STC official told AFP that Zubaidi decided not to travel after receiving information that he would be asked to dissolve the council, which formally forms part of the Presidential Leadership Council.
In a written statement, Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said Zubaidi’s removal followed a decision by council chairman Rashad al-Alimi.
The council accused Zubaidi of exploiting the southern cause for personal political ambitions and committing crimes against civilians in southern provinces.
“It has been established that al-Zubaidi abused the just cause of the South and exploited it to commit grave crimes against civilians,” the statement said.
Forces affiliated with the UAE-backed STC seized Hadramaut and Mahra provinces in early December 2025. Together, the two provinces account for nearly half of Yemen’s territory and border Saudi Arabia.
After the STC refused to withdraw despite local, regional and international calls, operations backed by the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy restored government control over the provinces, officials said.
The latest developments raise the prospect of a direct confrontation around Aden, the base of Yemen’s internationally recognized government since it was driven out of the capital Sanaa by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2014.
More than 100 people have been killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes targeting separatist positions in southern Yemen in recent weeks, according to local sources.
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