Yemen’s main separatist group launches new military operation amid rising tensions

• Yemen’s government says withdrawal of STC forces ‘only option to restore the path of growth and recovery’ in region

ISTANBUL

Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) launched a new military operation in the southern province of Abyan amid rising tensions in the country’s south on Monday.

The STC-affiliated Security Belt Forces said in a statement that the operation aims at what it described as “cutting supply lines for terrorist elements and organizations” in the region.

“The forces are proceeding with full determination to cut the supply lines of terrorist groups and prevent any attempts at their return or reorganization,” said Mohsen Abdullah al-Wali, the forces’ commander.

He called the operation “an extension of a series of security and military victories achieved by our Southern Armed Forces in the governorates of Hadramout and Al-Mahrah.”

STC-affiliated Aden TV reported that the council’s forces were deployed “to secure the eastern entrance of Wadi Hadramout and the Hadramout desert.”

Local media outlets published photos of the STC forces wearing black military uniforms, equipped with weapons and military vehicles.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s internationally recognized government on the STC operation.

The STC was formed in 2017 and advocates the secession of southern Yemen and a return to the pre-1990 political arrangement, citing the marginalization of southern regions by successive governments – claims denied by the authorities.

While regional and international efforts have failed to bring peace to Yemen amid a war between government forces and the Houthi group, the country’s south has seen rising tensions that have heightened fears of the country’s division.

The situation escalated after the STC forces completed their takeover of Al-Mahrah governorate and seized areas in Hadramout, including oilfields and facilities.

Last week, Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi called for the immediate withdrawal of the STC forces from Hadramout and Al-Mahrah, which make up nearly half of Yemen’s geographical area (about 528,000 square kilometers).

Alimi described the withdrawal as “the only option to normalize conditions in the eastern regions of the country and restore the path of growth and recovery.”

STC National Assembly Chairman Abdullah Al-Kathiri rejected the calls for withdrawal, saying “what has been achieved is among the gains that must be preserved.”

Militarily, cities along Hadramout’s coast, including Mukalla and the historic port city of Ash Shihr, are controlled by the Hadramout Elite Forces, which are aligned with the STC. Yemen’s internationally recognized government primarily controls Marib in the northeast and Taiz in the southwest.

Yemen was unified in May 1990, but political disputes and longstanding grievances in the south later fueled renewed secessionist calls, particularly after the outbreak of the current civil war.

Despite regional and international efforts, attempts to secure peace in Yemen have failed amid the war between government forces and the Houthi group, which controls much of northern and northwestern Yemen.