Separatist forces in southern Yemen have levelled serious accusations against Saudi Arabia, claiming the kingdom conducted airstrikes targeting their positions on Friday, 26 December 2025. The alleged strikes in Yemen's Hadramout governorate mark a significant and public rupture within the fragile Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels for a decade.
Accusations and Warnings Precede Military Action
The Southern Transitional Council (STC), a secessionist group backed by the United Arab Emirates, stated its forces were hit by Saudi air power. This came after the kingdom had publicly warned the STC to withdraw from governorates, including Hadramout and Mahra, which they had moved into earlier this month. Amr Al Bidh, a foreign affairs special representative for the Council, told The Associated Press that its fighters had been operating in eastern Hadramout after facing "multiple ambushes" from gunmen, which he said killed two STC fighters and wounded twelve others. The Saudi strikes occurred subsequently.
The STC later described its operations as an attempt to apprehend a wanted individual and disrupt smuggling routes. An eyewitness, Ahmed al-Khed, reported seeing destroyed military vehicles believed to belong to STC-allied forces after the strikes. Footage purportedly showing the attacks was broadcast by the STC's satellite channel, AIC.
A Coalition Under Strain
This incident applies intense pressure on the relationship between key coalition partners Saudi Arabia and the UAE. While close allies and fellow OPEC members, the two nations have backed different factions within the complex Yemeni conflict. The STC's advance had displaced forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, highlighting the competing agendas.
Faez bin Omar, a leading tribal coalition member in Hadramout, suggested the strikes served as a stark warning for the STC to withdraw. This interpretation was supported by a report in the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, which quoted informed sources stating the kingdom carried out the strikes "to send a message" and that "any further escalation would be met with stricter measures." Saudi officials did not respond to AP's request for comment.
In a statement on Friday, the UAE said it "welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security and stability" in Yemen, reaffirming its commitment to stability in the country. This diplomatic language belies the tangible friction on the ground, where STC-aligned groups increasingly fly the flag of the former South Yemen, a separate state until 1990.
Broader Context of a Devastating War
This internal strife threatens to further destabilise a nation already brought to its knees by years of war. The conflict, which began after Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, has killed over 150,000 people and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The Saudi-led coalition, armed with US weaponry and intelligence, entered the war in 2015 on the side of the exiled government, but fighting has remained largely inconclusive.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have launched repeated attacks on shipping in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war, disrupting global trade. Further chaos within the anti-Houthi coalition risks drawing the United States back into the conflict, following previous bombing campaigns under both the Trump and Biden administrations.
The situation in Yemen mirrors growing regional rivalries, seen also in Sudan where Saudi Arabia and the UAE support opposing forces in that country's civil war. The events in Hadramout underscore how the battle against the Houthis is increasingly complicated by the divergent ambitions of those supposedly on the same side.
