ADEN, Yemen (AP) — A government official said Yemen’s airspace was briefly closed Monday as tensions escalated in the country’s south after separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates took over the oil-rich region.
The recent takeover of areas in Hadhramaut province by the Southern Transitional Council reflects a rift in the forces allied against the Houthi rebels, who have seized most of the country’s north, including the capital Sanaa.
Since 2014, Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war between the Iran-backed Houthis and an internationally recognized government backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. The separatist Southern Transitional Council is part of the anti-Houthi camp, but seeks an independent state in southern Yemen.
A Yemeni government official said on Monday that the Saudi-led coalition had denied permission for flights, including flights to and from the southern city of Adenthe seat of an internationally recognized government.
The official described the move as a “Saudi message” to the separatists after their latest takeover of areas in the vast Hadhramaut province, which borders Saudi Arabia. The escalation could see Yemen split into two states after more than three decades of unification.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia did not acknowledge the closure of Yemeni airspace. Since the Saudi-led coalition entered the The Yemen War in 2015, the coalition controlled the country’s airspace.
Hundreds of passengers were stranded hours before flights resumed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
An Associated Press reporter at the airport saw workers begin checking in passengers from a Cairo-bound flight scheduled to take off early Monday morning.
The Southern Transitional Council, or STC — an umbrella group of armed groups trained and funded by the United Arab Emirates — expanded its control over southern Yemen earlier this month. After brief clashes with the Yemeni army and allied tribes, they seized control of Seiyun in Hadhramaut, including key oil fields and energy facilities, including PetroMasila, Yemen’s largest oil company.
The separatist group’s forces were deployed across the strategic Wadi Hadramout area, which includes major urban centers and military bases, according to STC-affiliated media. They took over the presidential palace and Seiyun International Airport last week and advanced into Mahra province, which borders Oman, the group said.
The STC raised the flag of South Yemen over government buildings in the south of the country, including the border crossing with Oman. Images circulated by STC-affiliated media showed the flag of South Yemen, with a light blue arrow and red star, flying over government buildings and schools in the south.
The separatists enjoy the loyalty of much of southern Yemen and have repeatedly pushed for the division of Yemen into two countries, as was the case between 1967 and 1990.
Hundreds of STC supporters took to the streets in Aden to call for an independent state in the south. Protesters held up the flag of South Yemen and pictures Eidarous all-Zubedithe leader of the STC, who is also the vice president of the country. There was also a protest in Hadramout.
“It is a high day, a day of great triumph… when we liberated all the regions in the south,” said Mohamed al-Zaher, a Yemeni resident, as he unfurled the flag of South Yemen, which was known as the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.
They vowed to stay in the streets until southern independence was declared.
STC forces seized the presidential palace in Aden over the weekend and forced presidential guards to leave the facility, according to a government official.
The STC has sought to portray its military action as necessary to restore stability to the region and fight the Iran-backed Houthis, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. It said the Hadhramaut Valley had turned into a “platform for smuggling operations” for the Houthis and a “hotbed” for al-Qaeda and IS militants, and that its operations there came after “exhausting all options proposed in recent years to restore stability”.
Chairman of the decision Presidential CouncilMeanwhile, Rashad al-Alimi on Sunday called on Emirati-backed forces to withdraw from the areas they recently captured in Hadhramaut and Mahra.
“We categorically reject any unilateral measures that would undermine the legal status of the state, harm the public interest or create a parallel reality,” he said in a statement after a meeting with diplomats from the United States, the United Kingdom and France in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
STC’s latest escalation was a “major shift” that will have regional ramifications, with the UAE appearing to be the “main winner” by expanding its influence in Yemen, said Ahmed Nagi, senior Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.
“This changes the balance of power in Yemen,” he said. “The key question now is how Saudi Arabia will respond, given the direct implications for its national security.”
UAE-backed forces now control almost the entire southern half of Yemen, including key coastal areas, including strategic ones Maun Island in Bob el-Manden Strightand volcanic the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean.
The UAE’s support for the secessionists has threatened the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis for more than a decade. The UAE is part of the coalition.
The United Arab Emirates issued a statement on Monday saying its “unwavering stance on the Yemen crisis is in line with Saudi Arabia’s” and that it supports international efforts to restore the country’s political process.
“The government and territorial integrity of Yemen is a matter for the Yemeni parties to determine themselves,” it said.
Yemen’s war began in 2014, when the Houthis were swept from their northern stronghold and seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s north. In response, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
Magdy reported from Doha, Qatar.
This story has been corrected to show that the island of Socotra is in the Indian Ocean, not the Red Sea.
