December 26, 2025, 11:23 amDecember 26, 2025, 11:31 am
Saudi Arabia has begun air strikes in eastern Yemen, according to separatists. The Saudi air force bombed separatist positions, reported the local television station Aden Independent TV, which is affiliated with the so-called STC. Saudi Arabia did not comment on the alleged attacks.
December 25: A person waves the flag during a rally for southern Yemen’s independence.Image: keystone
Eyewitnesses shared videos on social media that appear to show airstrikes on separatist positions in the oil-rich Hadramaut province. Local sources there also reported dozens of casualties in the ranks of the STC after fighting with tribal groups. Aden Independent TV initially reported two dead and twelve injured.
Saudi Arabia began airstrikes in Yemen in 2015 to support the government there and to push back the Iran-backed Houthi militia. But Riyadh is looking for a way out of the conflict and the last bombings were years ago. Attacks on targets of the separatists, who are actually partners in the fight against the Houthis, would be a surprising turn of events and a new level of escalation.
Saudi Arabia is increasingly under pressure in Yemen
The separatists in the south call themselves the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and are supported by the United Arab Emirates. Most recently, they have taken over large areas in the provinces of Hadramaut and al-Mahra, which together make up around half of the country’s area. The fact that they are turning against government troops also puts pressure on Saudi Arabia, which wants to preserve and strengthen the government.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry described the STC’s latest offensive as an “unjustified escalation.” Riyadh is hopeful that the separatists will withdraw their troops from the two provinces “immediately and in an orderly manner.” Otherwise there would be “undesirable consequences”. They are working with the United Arab Emirates to bring the situation under control.
Despite their years-long alliance, the separatists have repeatedly resisted the government taking over larger areas in the south. They are striving to secede from the north again. Yemen was already divided between 1967 and until reunification in 1990.
The civil war in Yemen for a decade has primarily been between the Houthi militia, which overran the north including the capital Sanaa, and the government and its allies in Riyadh. All efforts to find a political solution, for example through mediation in Oman and initiatives by the United Nations, failed. (sda/dpa/cst)