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Saudi Arabia bombed the port city of Mukalla in Yemen on Tuesday after a delivery of weapons from the United Arab Emirates came out for separatist forces in the war-torn country and warned that it considered the Emirates’ actions “extremely dangerous”.
The bombing follows days of tension over the advance of separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council, backed by the Emirates. Despite this warning, the Council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE’s presence, even as other Saudi allies demanded the withdrawal of Emirati forces. Yemen in 24 hours.
The United Arab Emirates separately called for “restraint and wisdom,” while disputing Riyadh’s allegations against it. He has not declared that he will withdraw from Yemen as requested.
The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen’s decade-long war, with allied forces against the The Houthis supported by Iran perhaps they could turn to each other in the Arab world’s poorest nation, long plagued by famine and disease.
It has also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, neighboring countries on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly compete over economic and political issues in the region, particularly in the broader Red Sea region.
“I expect a calibrated escalation on both sides. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council will likely respond by consolidating its control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of Basha Report, a risk consultancy.
“At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is expected to be reduced following the port attack, especially since Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”
A military statement issued by the Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes, which reportedly took place after the arrival of ships from Fujairah, a port city on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates.
“The ships’ crew had deactivated tracking devices on board the ships and unloaded a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles to support the forces of the Southern Transitional Council,” the statement said.
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“Considering that the aforementioned weapons pose an imminent threat and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force this morning conducted a limited airstrike targeting the weapons and military vehicles unloaded from the two ships at Mukalla,” the statement added.
It was unclear whether there were any casualties as a result of the attack.
The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied shipping weapons, but admitted sending the vehicles “for use by UAE forces operating in Yemen.” The United Arab Emirates largely withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier. He also claimed that Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment in advance.
“These developments raise legitimate questions on how to address them and their repercussions, at a stage that requires the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account existing security challenges and threats,” the ministry added.
Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, ending their cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and ordering all Emirati forces on their territory to evacuate within 24 hours. They banned all border crossings into the territory they hold, as well as entries into airports and seaports, for 72 hours, except those authorized by Saudi Arabia.
The Council’s AIC satellite news channel broadcast footage of the aftermath of the attack, but avoided showing the damage caused to armored vehicles near the port.
“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only reinforce popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Arab state,” the channel said.
The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a ro-ro ship flying the flag of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the ship was in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.
Footage later broadcast by Saudi state television, which appeared to have been filmed by a surveillance plane, reportedly showed the armored vehicles moving from the ship via Mukalla to a transit area. The vehicle types matched the images on social media.
Strike comes as separatists advance
Mukalla is located in the Hadramawt governorate in Yemen, which the Council had seized in recent days. The port city is about 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which was the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces in Yemen after rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
Yemen, located on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off the coast of East Africa, borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the war between Israel and Hamas, significantly disrupting regional shipping.
Tuesday’s strike in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes on Friday that analysts described as a warning for separatists to halt their advance and leave Hadramout and Mahra governorates.
The council had expelled forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another coalition group fighting the Houthis.
Those aligned with the Council are increasingly flying the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967 to 1990. Protesters have been gathering for days in support of political forces calling for a new secession of South Yemen.
The separatists’ actions have put pressure on relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have close ties and are members of the OPEC oil cartel but have also competed for influence and international affairs in recent years. Saudi Arabia, in particular, is seeking to attract foreign businesses from Dubai, home to long-haul carrier Emirates and long a hub for expatriate workers.
The two countries have had border conflicts in the past, even before the creation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be the most serious confrontation between the nations in decades.
There has also been an escalation of violence in Sudan, another country on the Red Sea, where the kingdom and the Emirates support opposing forces in that country’s ongoing war.
A statement released Tuesday by the Saudi Foreign Ministry for the first time directly linked the council’s progress to the Emirates.
“The kingdom notes that the measures taken by the brotherly UAE are extremely dangerous,” the statement said.
Council allies later issued a statement showing no signs of backing down.
Meanwhile, Israel recognized Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland as an independent nation, the first to do so in more than 30 years. This sparked concern among the Houthis, who threatened to attack any Israeli presence in Somaliland.
