Four of Yemen’s eight Presidential Leadership Council members on Tuesday denounced an announcement by the council’s chief over recent developments, accusing him of breaching the governing agreement.
Tension between Yemeni leaders has been rising for weeks, underscoring the fragility of the country's already fractured political landscape and further complicating efforts to confront the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The latest rift took an unprecedented turn on Tuesday morning, marked by a Saudi-led coalition “limited operation” striking combat vehicles Riyadh linked to the Southern Transitional Council, which has three members in the PLC.
The operation was followed hours later by announcements from PLC chief Rashad Al Alimi that he was seeking to cancel the joint defence agreement with the UAE.
“What has been issued … constitutes a clear violation of the Declaration of the Transfer of Power [agreement], which explicitly stipulates that the Presidential Leadership Council is a collective body whose decisions are taken by consensus, or by majority when consensus is not possible,” the statement by the four members said.
“It does not, under any circumstances, allow for unilateral decision-making on sovereign, military, or major political matters." The statement was signed by STC chief Aidarous Al Zubaidi, Faraj Al Bahsani, Tariq Saleh and Abu Zaraa al Muharrami.
According to the government-aligned Saba news agency, Mr Al Alimi also urged the National Shield Forces, part of the pro-government coalition, to take over military camps in Hadhramaut and Mahra and declared a 72-hour air, sea and land blockade, despite lacking effective control over entry points without the STC.
The STC, which seeks the restoration of an independent southern state, recently took control of Hadhramaut and Mahra from other pro-government forces, effectively consolidating its grip over all southern governorates.
'Shock and disappointment'
In an interview with The National, the STC’s Foreign Affairs Representative to the US said on Tuesday she felt "a sense of shock and disappointment” at the day’s events.
“We were hoping for co-ordination and de-escalation and working together with the Arab coalition to secure Hadhramaut. So I have to say it's a general sense of disbelief and disappointment,” said Summer Ahmed.
Ms Ahmed said that calls for STC forces to withdraw from their positions are “counterproductive”.
“The STC and the southern government forces are currently the only force on the ground that has demonstrated in the past 10 years of holding territory, of fighting both Houthis and Al Qaeda, so demanding that these forces redeploy is counterproductive and it will only benefit Houthis and Al Qaeda terrorists who were the main benefactors of the smuggling routes in Hadhramaut,” she said.
Ms Ahmed said the division within the leadership of the internationally recognised Yemeni government “has been going on since the onset, since the establishment of the PLC. The PLC Chairman took unilateral decisions, over 700 decrees were all taken and issued by him, unilaterally, without going back to the other members.
"That created a rift between the already different members and the different political agendas in the PLC, so that just added to it. And this is something that has been going on since 2022 and it had led to failure in governance.”
She said that the UAE “played a very important role on the ground in defeating the Houthis and also in liberating not [only] entire cities, but also entire governorates from Aqap [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] terrorists" and the STC is now expecting an increase in attacks, which have seen AQAP co-ordinate operations with the Houthis.
Security and stability
The STC said the developments followed what it described as the failure of other pro-government factions to launch a serious campaign against the Houthis in their northern strongholds, including the capital Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia, which hosts senior Yemeni government and PLC figures, condemned the STC’s takeover, saying it was carried out without co-ordination with the coalition.
The kingdom has led the anti-Houthi coalition since 2015, with the UAE playing a key role in halting the advance of the Iran-backed rebels, expelling them from the south, and combatting extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.
In a statement carried by Saudi state media, coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al Malki said two vessels arriving from the port of Fujairah on Saturday and Sunday entered Mukalla port “without obtaining official clearance from the Coalition Joint Forces Command”.
He claimed that the crews disabled their tracking systems and “offloaded weapons and combat vehicles” intended to support STC forces, before announcing that the shipment had been attacked at the civilian port. Footage showed damaged military vehicles and fire billowing from the attack site.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday that “the shipment concerned did not include any weapons and that the vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party, but were shipped for use by UAE forces operating in Yemen”.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later reaffirmed the kingdom’s commitment to the “security, stability and sovereignty of the Republic of Yemen”.
However, it said the STC’s actions posed “a threat to the kingdom’s national security, as well as the security and stability of Yemen and the region”, stressing that any threat to Saudi security was “a red line” that would be met with “all necessary measures”.
Undermining anti-Houthi efforts
The UAE formally ended its direct military role in Yemen in 2019, shifting from what it described as a “military strategy” to a “peace strategy”.
“The United Arab Emirates has been, and remains, a key partner in confronting the Houthi project. It has made enormous sacrifices, paid a heavy price in the blood of its sons, played a pivotal role in liberating vast areas, and contributed decisively to building security and military capabilities that were critical in protecting Yemenis, securing international maritime navigation, and combatting terrorism,” the four PLC members said.
“Attempts to demonise this role or disavow it serve only Yemen’s enemies. They are an affront to recent history and a reckless abandonment of a partnership forged in blood, not slogans.”
Southern forces played a significant role in driving Houthi fighters out of southern Yemen, particularly in Aden, Lahj and parts of Abyan, during the early years of the war between 2015 and 2018.
Those battles prevented the Houthis from consolidating control over the south after their advance from Sanaa and allowed the internationally recognised government to re-establish a foothold in Aden. The STC later emerged as a political umbrella for many of the southern forces involved in those campaigns.
Along Yemen’s western coast, UAE-trained forces were central to operations that expelled the Houthis from large stretches of territory, including Mokha, Khokha and areas south of Hodeidah. The offensives disrupted key Houthi supply routes along the Red Sea and were widely seen as among the most effective ground campaigns of the war.
UAE-trained troops also led counter-terrorism operations against Al Qaeda and ISIS, particularly in Abyan and Shabwa, dismantling militant strongholds and attacking senior figures who sought to exploit the conflict to establish safe havens, until they were largely defeated in co-ordination with US forces.
The latest developments risk undermining anti-Houthi efforts. The group has struck shipping lanes in the Red Sea, causing billions of dollars in losses to international trade, while seeking to boost its regional influence ahead of any future political settlement. The current escalation could ultimately play into the Houthis’ hands, at a time when their main backer, Iran, faces growing regional pressure and scrutiny over its support for armed proxies.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the principle of partnership, to collective decision-making, and to protecting what remains of the political framework that was created to unify ranks, not to tear them apart,” the four members said.
With additional reporting by Thomas Watkins
