Four of Yemen’s eight Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) members on Tuesday denounced an announcement by the council’s chief over recent developments, accusing him of violating the governing agreement.
Tensions between Yemeni leaders have been rising for weeks, underscoring the fragility of Yemen’s already fractured political landscape and further complicating efforts to confront the Houthi rebels.
The latest rift took an unprecedented turn on Tuesday morning, marked by a Saudi-led coalition “limited operation” targeting weapons and combat vehicles linked to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which has three members in the PLC.
The operation was followed hours later by announcements from PLC chief Rashad Al Alimi, who said 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,” it added. The statement was signed by STC chief Aidarous Al Zubaidi, Faraj Salmin 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.
Security and stability
The group said the move 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 combating extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.
In a statement carried by Saudi state media, coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al Maliki 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 added 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 targeted at the civilian port. Footage showed damaged military vehicles and fire billowing from the attack site.
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 combating 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 targeting 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 targeted shipping lanes in the Red Sea, causing billions of dollars in losses to international trade, while seeking to boost its regional leverage 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.
