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Yemeni separatists said Friday they would press ahead with their objectives despite airstrikes blamed on Saudi Arabia that hit their positions in eastern Yemen, in the latest escalation following their seizure of large swathes of territory last month.
The Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council, which seeks to revive the former state of South Yemen, said the strikes would not deter its campaign, as regional tensions rise between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi over rival allies inside Yemen.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the strikes in Hadramawt province, which came amid a sharp escalation in a conflict that has plunged Yemen into a humanitarian catastrophe for more than a decade.
The STC said the strikes “will not serve any path of understanding and will not deter the people of the South from continuing to move forward toward restoring their full rights.”
In recent weeks, STC forces have made rapid territorial gains in Hadramawt and Mahra provinces, prompting Saudi Arabia — the Yemeni government’s main backer — to warn the group to pull back.
After the raids, Yemen’s internationally recognized government urged the Saudi-led coalition to support its forces in Hadramawt after separatists seized most of the country’s largest province.
The government called on the coalition to “take all necessary military measures to protect innocent Yemeni civilians in Hadramawt province and support the armed forces,” the official Saba news agency reported.
A Yemeni government official in Riyadh told AFP that Saudi Arabia may be considering military action against the separatists if talks fail.
A Yemeni military official said about 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters had been deployed near the Saudi border but had not received orders to advance toward separatist-held territory.
“All the areas where they were deployed are located at the edges of territory seized in recent weeks by the UAE-backed STC,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Saudi-led coalition did not immediately confirm the strikes.
Meanwhile, Türkiye said Friday that developments in Yemen were “a source of concern.”
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry welcomed Saudi Arabia’s “prudent stance” amid the escalation and also praised efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to promote security and stability in Yemen.
Ankara said it would continue supporting efforts to preserve Yemen’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to ensure peace and prosperity in the country.
The latest separatist advances have strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, longtime allies that back rival factions within Yemen’s government.
The STC told AFP that Saudi Arabia carried out two airstrikes. Video aired by separatist-linked media showed smoke rising from a desert area.
The strikes followed clashes Thursday between separatists and a tribal leader close to Saudi Arabia, which the STC said killed two of its fighters.
Oman, which borders Yemen and has played a mediating role, called for avoiding escalation and urged parties to engage in comprehensive political dialogue.
The United Nations has warned that continued escalation could lead to renewed widespread conflict.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week that the STC’s advances risk “wider escalation and further fragmentation,” warning that a full resumption of hostilities could have “serious ramifications for regional peace and security.”
Yemen has been divided by conflict for more than a decade. Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and control much of the north, while the Saudi-led coalition has backed the government since 2015.
Fighting eased significantly after a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022, but the latest developments have raised fears of a new phase of instability in a country already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
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