Yemen's Saudi-backed government launched an operation to take back military positions from the UAE-backed southern separatists on Friday. It said it had reclaimed one of the largest military camps in Hadramout province.
The operation in Hadramout marks the latest escalation in 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.
Forces reclaim major base, governer says
Hadramout's Saudi-backed governor, Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi, said in a statement on Friday that his forces had taken control of a military camp in al-Khasha'a, the province's largest and most important base.
The governor had earlier said his forces were launching what he called a "peaceful" operation.
A senior official of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council told Reuters the operation had not been peaceful.
"Saudi Arabia knowingly misled the international community by announcing a peaceful operation that they never had any intention to keep peaceful," Amr Al Bidh said in a statement.
"This was evidenced by the fact that they launched seven airstrikes minutes later," he said.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the airstrikes.
It was unclear if there were any casualties.
Operation targets military sites
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said it had appointed Hadramout's governor 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.
The oil-producing Hadramout province borders Saudi Arabia, and many prominent Saudis trace their origins to it, lending it cultural and historical significance for the kingdom.
A spokesperson for the STC, Mohammed al-Naqeeb, said 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 STC's Bidh told Reuters that three of the airstrikes targeted the al-Khasha'a military camp.
Three Yemeni sources told Reuters armored vehicles belonging to the Saudi-backed government had been moving towards the Khasha'a camp, which has the capacity to house thousands of troops and was taken over by the STC in December.
The UAE backs the STC, which seized large swathes of southern Yemen last month from the internationally recognized 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.
Saudi-Yemeni tensions continue to build
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on vehicles that it said had been smuggled to Mukalla Port from the United Arab Emirates.
Riyadh said that recent gains by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen in the past weeks were approaching a red line. Saudi Arabia called out the UAE by name in an unusual type of dispute in the Gulf.
The Gulf is generally conservative in its policies, and its countries are reluctant to argue. There are exceptions, such as when Riyadh led several countries in cutting ties with Qatar in 2017.
Saudi Arabia backs the Yemeni government, which is weak and doesn’t control much of the country.
“In a region already teetering on the edge, Yemen’s rapidly evolving situation on the ground is raising alarm bells,” Arab News says. “While international observers continue to place their bets on diplomacy and de-escalation, there is growing concern that the country may be inching toward a dangerous regional conflagration.