Yemen’s southern separatists lose contact with delegation that travelled to Riyadh for talks

The president of the Yemen's Southern Transitional Council Aidarous Al-Zubaidi sits for an interview, Sept. 22, 2023, in New York, while attending the United Nations General Assembly's annual high-level meeting of world leaders. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

ADEN, YEMEN — A separatist group in southern Yemen said Wednesday it was urgently trying to contact its delegation that traveled to the Saudi capital for talks on de-escalating tensions among rival forces on the ground.

The Southern Transitional Council, the most powerful group in southern Yemen, said a 50-member delegation arrived in Riyadh in the morning. One member posted a message on X but then the delegation went silent, their phones switched off and their whereabouts unknown.

The announcement came after the Saudi-backed leadership group of Yemen’s internationally recognized government said it had expelled the STC leader. The Presidential Leadership Council, or PLC, said the STC leader was charged with treason after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for the talks.

The recent tensions highlight the fragile nature of the collection of forces, including the separatists, that have been fighting Iranian-backed Houthi rebels based in northern Yemen. One notable rift is between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which has supported the STC. Saudi Arabia on Wednesday launched new airstrikes against the separatists.

“We went to Riyadh to talk. What we received was bombing,” Amr al-Bidh, an STC representative, told reporters. “This is unjustified and unfortunate.”

The Saudi foreign ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Coalition has been unraveling

The professed goal of the coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen’s decade-long civil war has long been to restore the internationally recognized government, which the Houthis drove from the north. But tensions among the factions have grown, threatening to throw them into outright conflict and further tear apart the Arab world’s poorest country.

The separatist STC seeks an independent nation in southern Yemen, something that Saudi Arabia sees as a violation of its national interest. Last week, the separatists announced a constitution for an independent nation and demanded other factions accept the decision.

The crisis escalated in December, when the separatists seized control of two southern governorates from Saudi-backed forces and took over the Presidential Palace in the south’s main city, Aden. Members of the internationally recognized government, which had been based in Aden, fled to the Saudi capital.

Saudi forces then carried out airstrikes on the port city of Mukalla, saying they were targeting weapons and military equipment that had been delivered from the UAE to the separatist group. The anti-Houthi coalition demanded that the UAE withdraw its forces from Yemen, and over the weekend it said it had.

Meanwhile, the Saudis proposed talks meant to calm things down.

Separatist leader refused a Saudi summons

The PLC, led by Rashad al-Alimi, accused the STC head Aidarous al-Zubaidi in a Facebook statement of “damaging the republic’s military, political and economic standing,” as well as “forming an armed gang and committing the murder of officers and soldiers of the armed forces.”

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said Wednesday that al-Zubaidi had been due to fly to Saudi Arabia with other officials but did not join them.

“The legitimate government and the coalition received intelligence indicating that al-Zubaidi had moved a large force -- including armored vehicles, combat vehicles, heavy and light weapons, and ammunition,” al-Malki said. Al-Zubaidi, he said, “fled to an unknown location.”

The STC representative, Al-Bidh, said al-Zubaidi remained in Aden, the interim capital where the internationally recognized government has been based, to carry out his duties -- and because an environment conducive to dialogue doesn’t currently exist.

Al-Bidh said the message his group received from the Saudis was “either you come or we’ll bomb you.”

Increased security in Aden

A curfew has been imposed across Aden from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, with exemptions for medical and security personnel and emergency cases, Presidential Leadership Council member Abu Zarae Al-Mahremy, responsible for overseeing security across Aden, announced in a Facebook post.

Schools were also closed until further notice due to potential security threats, while checkpoints continue to spread across much of Aden. Residents Khalil Al-Zekeri and Khaled Faisal reported that local security forces instructed shop owners and restaurants Wednesday night to close.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Leadership Council has issued a decision removing Ahmed Lamles from his post as governor of Aden and referred him for investigation for reportedly supporting STC’s leader al-Zubaidi’s decisions to make advances in Hadramout and Mahra governorates last month.

Saudis launch new airstrikes

More than 15 Saudi airstrikes overnight hit al-Dhale governorate, where al-Zubaidi’s village is located, targeting STC camps, according to STC leader Salah bin Laghir.

Two civilians died and 14 were injured, according to al-Bidh.

Witnesses told The Associated Press they saw armored vehicles affiliated with the STC leaving Aden overnight heading to al-Dahle, as well as drones and flames rising as explosions shook neighborhoods there.

The STC said it condemned “these unjustified airstrikes.”

Civil war’s death toll keeps growing

On Sunday, Saudi-backed forces spread across Mukalla, retaking the capital of Hadramout governorate following days of Saudi airstrikes.

Al-Bidh said Wednesday that around 80 people affiliated with the STC had been killed since tensions rose in December, with most dying in Saudi bombings.

The fighting among anti-Houthi coalition members challenges any unified campaign against the rebels.

The civil war in Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula and bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians. It also has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

By Ahmed Al-haj, Fatma Khaled And Jon Gambrell.

Khaled reported from Cairo, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.