SANAA, Yemen/ ISTANBUL 

The head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, warned Tuesday that recent unilateral measures by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the country’s main separatist group, threaten the domestic situation and undermine security of the neighboring countries.

“These actions reached a dangerous stage this week, with state institutions and agencies being pushed to issue statements supporting the division of the country and adopting high-level political positions beyond their authority, which threatens the unity of decision-making and the legal status of the state,” Alimi said during a meeting with Yemeni diplomats, as cited by the state news agency SABA.

“Under no circumstances can partnership in governance turn into rebellion against the state or an attempt to impose reality by force,” he added.

Alimi warned that the STC measures “not only threaten the internal situation, but also affect the state’s mutual commitments to protecting the security of neighboring countries, as well as international efforts to safeguard maritime corridors, energy supplies, and commercial shipping in the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden.”

Over the past two days, several ministers and officials in the Yemeni government announced their support for the STC’s calls for the secession of southern Yemen from the north.

“These officials are originally loyal to the STC, but their announcements were unilateral and contradicted the policy of the government to which they belong,” a government source told Anadolu.

The STC forces have taken control of Hadramout province since Dec. 3, following clashes with the Hadramout Tribes Alliance and government-aligned First Military Region forces. Four days later, STC forces extended control over Mahra province, which had been under government authority.

The takeover prompted mounting local and regional calls for STC forces to withdraw from Hadramout and Mahra, which together account for nearly half of Yemen’s territory, about 555,000 square kilometers.

The UN has warned that continued escalation could have serious consequences for Yemen, which is already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian and economic crises.