Saudi-Led Coalition Conducts “Limited Airstrike” on Yemen Port
The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen—a Saudi-led alliance established in 2015 to combat Houthi rebels—said the operation targeted weapons and combat vehicles offloaded from UAE vessels without government authorization, according to a statement published by Saudi state news agency SPA.
Two ships departed from the UAE port of Fujairah over the weekend, disabling their tracking systems before entering Mukalla, Yemen's sole functioning seaport in the southern Hadramout governorate, the coalition claimed. The cargo reportedly contained substantial military supplies destined for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist movement pursuing autonomous governance in Yemen's south.
Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi authorized the early Tuesday strike, which coalition forces said produced no casualties or collateral damage.
The STC initially joined the Saudi-led intervention following Yemen's 2014 civil war outbreak but subsequently shifted toward demanding southern independence. Since 2022, the separatists have controlled extensive southern territories through power-sharing agreements and military gains, including strategically vital Hadramout and Mahrah provinces adjoining Saudi Arabia. Houthi forces meanwhile control northern Yemen, including capital Sanaa, after expelling the Saudi-backed government southward.
Tuesday's attack follows recent reports of Saudi airstrikes against separatist positions throughout Hadramout.
The UAE's foreign ministry has not issued comment. Al-Alimi responded by declaring a 90-day national emergency, implementing a 72-hour comprehensive blockade across air, sea, and land routes, and annulling Yemen's security agreement with the UAE. In a televised statement, he commanded the STC to surrender controlled areas to Saudi-backed forces, characterized the separatist expansion as "unacceptable rebellion," and issued a 24-hour ultimatum for UAE military withdrawal from Yemen.
Saudi Arabia cautioned that the UAE's separatist support constitutes a "threat to the Kingdom's national security, as well as to security and stability in Yemen and the wider region," while pressing Abu Dhabi to honor Yemen's withdrawal demands.
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