Politics Power struggle in Yemen: Saudi Arabia flies new attacks
The Saudi Arabia-led military coalition in Yemen has reported that it has again flown air strikes in the south of the civil war country during the night.
07.01.2026, 09:52
SDA
The trigger was the behavior of the separatist leader of the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarus al-Subaidi, said the coalition spokesman, Turki Al-Maliki, on X. Al-Subaidi was due to fly to the Saudi capital Riyadh for talks on Tuesday. However, he fled to an unknown location, it was reported.
According to the coalition, al-Subaidi is said to have mobilized a larger force with armoured vehicles as well as heavy and light weapons. As a result, "preventive air strikes" were flown in the early morning in order to "prevent an escalation".
Complex civil war in Yemen
The civil war in Yemen, which has been ongoing since 2014, has flared up again in recent weeks. The STC, supported by the United Arab Emirates, and the Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia, have actually been allied for years in the fight against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The Huthi control large parts of the north of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
However, tensions have recently arisen between the actual allies. The Emirates support the separatists of the STC, who are seeking to secede southern and eastern areas from the north of the country. Most recently, they seized large areas bordering Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh came under pressure and attacked STC targets in southern Yemen. Under pressure from the influential kingdom, the Emirates withdrew their units from the civil war country. Shortly afterwards, the Saudi-backed government announced that it had regained control of a large part of the areas in the east of the country that had been seized by separatists.
Accusation of high treason
Yemen's internationally recognized government is very weak and is maintained primarily by political pressure and influence from Saudi Arabia. It is headed by the so-called Presidential Council. Following the latest developments, the council announced the expulsion of al-Subaidi and accused him of high treason.
Meanwhile, the STC stated that al-Subaidi was in the Yemeni port city of Aden. There he is continuing his tasks "alongside his people". An STC delegation had traveled to Riyadh on Tuesday to take part in a conference on the future of South Yemen. However, contact was broken off. The separatists called on Saudi Arabia to restore communication immediately.
They announced that the Saudi airstrikes had also caused "civilian casualties". An official casualty figure could not initially be verified.
