UAE says it will withdraw from Yemen after Saudi strike on separatist-held port

The United Arab Emirates announced it would withdraw its remaining forces from Yemen, after Saudi Arabia backed the Yemeni presidential council’s demand to leave them within 24 hours.

The UAE’s announcement followed an airstrike by a Saudi-led military coalition against what it said was an arms shipment to UAE-backed separatist forces in the southern port of Mukalla.

The UAE denied the shipment contained weapons and expressed “deep regret” over the Saudi accusations.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been allies in the war against the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen for the past decade, but infighting between the rival factions they support has deepened the rift between them.

Saudi Arabia also accused the UAE of “putting pressure” on separatists to attack Saudi-backed government forces in two eastern provinces, and warned it would take action to confront such “very dangerous” actions.

On Tuesday afternoon, the UAE Ministry of Defense issued a statement announcing “the dismissal of remaining counterterrorism personnel in Yemen on their own volition”, six years after the UAE Armed Forces “ended” their presence.

The ministry explained that the decision to withdraw them was taken “in light of recent developments and their potential implications for the security and effectiveness of counterterrorism missions,” without mentioning the coalition strike or the Saudi warning.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a strongly worded statement on Tuesday morning that it was working to “contain escalatory measures” taken recently by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which is seeking independence for southern Yemen.

He accused the UAE of “pressuring” the STC to carry out offensives in the eastern provinces of Hadramawt and al-Mahra, which he said posed “a threat to the national security of the kingdom, as well as the security and stability of the Republic of Yemen and the region”. He also warned that Saudi Arabia would take steps to deal with such “highly dangerous” actions.

The UAE Foreign Ministry denounced allegations that it had “pressurized or directed any Yemeni party to undertake military operations that could undermine the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or target its borders.”

He also insisted that the UAE “has focused on containing the situation, supporting de-escalation efforts and promoting agreements to help preserve security and stability” since the start of the STC offensives.

The head of Yemen’s eight-member presidential council – which includes representatives of the STC – announced earlier that he was canceling a joint defense agreement with the United Arab Emirates and ordering his forces to leave within 24 hours “in the interest of safeguarding the security of all citizens, affirming his commitment to the unity, sovereignty, stability and territorial integrity of Yemen.”

Rashad al-Alimi also declared a state of emergency for a period of 90 days, which he said was necessary to deal with the Houthis and what he described as “internal conflicts led by mutinous military elements who were taking orders from the United Arab Emirates.”

STC leaders said the UAE’s ultimatum to withdraw was unilateral and had no legal basis, and insisted the UAE would remain a “senior partner” in the battle against the Houthis.

Alimi’s announcement comes after the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition – which includes the UAE – said it had carried out a “limited” airstrike against weapons and military vehicles for STC forces in southern Yemen’s Mukalla port, which had arrived on two ships from the UAE.

These expeditions constitute “an imminent threat and an escalation that threatens peace and stability,” said Major General Turki al-Maliki.

A port official told the AFP news agency that an evacuation warning was received at 4 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) and a cleared area of ​​the facility was struck about 15 minutes later.

Photos showed a number of military vehicles and vans set on fire in a walled area of ​​the port, as well as damage to a nearby building. No casualties have been reported.

The UAE Foreign Ministry said it was surprised by the attack on Mukalla and that the coalition statement was issued without consulting member states.

He insisted that the cargo in question “did not include any weapons and that the vehicles unloaded were not intended for any Yemeni party but were intended for use by Emirati forces operating in Yemen.”

On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition called on STC forces to withdraw “peacefully” from Hadramawt and al-Mahra, a day after the Saudi air force reportedly bombed separatist-held positions in Hadramawt’s Wadi Nahab area.

STC forces launched offensives in both provinces amid growing tensions earlier this month, putting them in direct conflict with government forces.

He said the operations were necessary to “restore stability” in the south and combat the Houthis, as well as the jihadist groups Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS).

Yemen has been devastated by a civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis ousted the internationally recognized government from the capital Sanaa. The conflict intensified in 2015, after the Saudi-led coalition of Arab states intervened to restore government power.

The fighting has reportedly left more than 150,000 dead and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Early in the war, the STC and other separatists seeking independence for southern Yemen, which was a separate country before unification with the north in 1990, formed an uneasy alliance with the government to prevent the Houthis from seizing the southern city of Aden.

However, in recent years the STC and its allies have turned against the government and gradually taken control of Aden and much of the south of the country.