Saudi-Led Group in Yemen Tells Separatists to Withdraw, or Be ‘Dealt With’

The Saudis ramped up their rhetoric against a faction that has seized parts of Yemen in recent weeks.

A Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said Saturday that it would intervene to defend the internationally recognized government there unless a group of separatists peacefully withdraws from parts of the country it has seized in recent weeks.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a senior Saudi military official and a spokesman for the coalition, which provides support to the official government in Yemen, called for the situation to be de-escalated and for territory to be handed back. “Any military movements contravening these efforts will be dealt with directly and immediately,” he said in comments to Saudi state media.

The separatist group, the Southern Transitional Council, used military force this month to take over parts of the oil-rich Hadramaut province in the south of Yemen and al-Mahra province in the east. The group was founded in 2017 with financial and military support from the United Arab Emirates, a Saudi ally.

On Friday, Amr al-Bidh, a senior official for the separatists, said that two “Saudi airstrikes” had targeted forces affiliated with the group in Hadramaut. No casualties were reported, and Saudi Arabia did not publicly acknowledge any strikes or respond to a request for comment at the time. The Emirati foreign ministry also did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement overnight, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over the situation in southeastern Yemen. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged “restraint” and thanked Saudi Arabia and the Emirates for their “diplomatic leadership.”

The two powerful Gulf countries once led a military coalition into Yemen to defeat the Houthis, a militia that seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014 with Iranian support, igniting a civil war in Yemen.

But the Emirates and Saudi Arabia have diverged in their foreign policies in recent years, backing rival powers in Yemen and, further afield, in Sudan. The events of the past 48 hours underlined the patchwork of allegiances that have wracked Yemen since the civil war.

Earlier in the week, the Saudi foreign ministry had issued a statement calling on the separatists to withdraw. Hisham al-Omeisy, a Yemeni political analyst, called the reported strikes on Friday a “shot across the bow” by the Saudis, in response to the group’s actions in Hadramaut.

A television channel affiliated with the separatists shared video on Friday showing what appeared to be a large plume of smoke in the area of Ghayl bin Yameen, which is in Hadramaut province. A man carrying a rifle can be seen stepping out of a vehicle, as another man, off-camera, is heard saying that Saudi aircraft were striking a nearby camp.

Another video circulating on social media claimed to show the aftermath of the strike and was filmed in the same location, The Times confirmed.

On Saturday, the Saudi defense minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said that the developments have “led to a rift in the united front against the enemy,” referring to divisions among Yemenis, despite an ongoing battle with the Houthis. He said it was “wasting what our sons and the sons of Yemen sacrificed for.”

The Houthis remain in control of the north, while the south has been under the administration of the internationally recognized government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia.

The Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council is ostensibly part of the government. But the group has long agitated for an independent state in southern Yemen.

On Friday, the separatists released a statement saying that their recent military movements in Yemen were responding to “the calls of our southern people.” The group said it wanted to secure the area from terrorist threats and to cut off supply and smuggling lines for the Houthis.

The civil war in Yemen has largely settled into a stalemate, analysts said.

Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemeni research fellow at Chatham House, a think tank, said that the war had been hard enough for Yemenis when the Gulf powers were aligned. “Imagine now that they’re diverging,” he said.

Saeed Al-Batati contributed reporting from al-Mukalla, Yemen.

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