Escalating Tensions Between Saudi Arabia and UAE in Occupied Southern Yemen Take Toll on Civilians
Tensions and conflict have escalated between the occupying forces of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in Yemen’s southern occupied provinces, as the suffering of citizens paying the price for the infighting of invasion leaders and mercenaries intensifies.
After Saudi Arabia formed a new pro-Riyadh political entity called the Hadramout Council in Hadramout southern province on June 20, 2023, the UAE has attempted to foil the Riyadh plan by stirring unrest through its mercenaries in the so-called Transitional Council.
Experts predict the Saudi occupation will establish other political entities in the occupied southern and eastern provinces to counter the UAE’s policies and plans and those of its mercenaries.
A number of cities in occupied Hadramout province have seen angry protest stands and marches denouncing the deterioration of basic services and the decline of the local currency against foreign currencies.
The people of Al-Qutn and Tarim districts organized protest stands calling for improved service conditions, stopping the deterioration of facilities, and ending the corruption of the mercenary provincial government.
The surroundings of the local administration building in Sayoun city in Hadramout Valley saw a popular protest stand condemning the mercenary government of Majeed Abdelmalik.
The protests come in response to calls by the so-called Hadrami Movement affiliated with the UAE-backed Transitional Council in reaction to Saudi Arabia forming the so-called Hadramout National Council, which Abu Dhabi entities considered hatching southern components.
The situation in Aden is similar to Hadramout, as residents of the former suffer from a significant rise in temperature with power outages for more than six hours a day, especially in summer, amid neglect by the mercenary Maeen Abdelmalik government and the Saudi committee overseeing the status quo due to fuel shortages.
The head of the pro-Riyadh Supreme Council for Revolutionary Movement, Fouad Rashid, blamed the invasion coalition and the mercenary Maeen Abdelmalik government for the ongoing collapse of the local currency in Aden and other occupied southern and eastern provinces.
Political sources described what is happening in the occupied southern and eastern provinces as dangerous, noting it threatens getting out of control as the UAE seeks to overthrow the Maeen Abdelmalik mercenary government and hinder the pro-Riyadh Presidential Council and hold Hadramout Valley and the First Military District, affiliated with Islah and supported by Saudi Arabia, responsible after more than seven years of the invasion coalition policies.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia faces UAE efforts to mobilize political, tribal, popular, and military forces supported by Abu Dhabi to stir unrest and demand the overthrow of the Maeen Abdelmalik mercenary government, holding it responsible for the deterioration of services and economic conditions due to the invasion coalition policies for over seven years.
In this context, a German report revealed an escalation in the Saudi-Emirati conflict in Aden and areas of southern Yemen occupied by the coalition.
The report published last week by German outlet Deutsche Welle referred to Saudi efforts to expand its influence in Aden, under the control of UAE-backed Transitional Council militias.
The report spoke of forming a political entity in Aden similar to the “Hadramout National Council” created by Saudi Arabia, as an entity opposed to the UAE-loyal Transitional Council.
The report predicted the internal infighting and regional interventions in occupied southern Yemen will intensify, making the political scene more complicated in the coming period.
On July 10, the head of the mercenary Transitional Council, Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, threatened to use force to protect what he described as the Council’s aspirations for the separation of southern Yemen provinces and restoring the alleged state.
Al-Zubaidi, who is deputy head of the pro-invasion coalition Presidential Council, confirmed during an expanded meeting of UAE-loyal military and security leaders that the “southern armed forces and security services will protect Hadramout from terrorism targeting it,” in reference to the Saudi-formed Hadramout National Council and the pro-Islah First Military District forces supported by Riyadh.
Some Transitional Council leaders accused the Islah group of seeking to ignite the situation in Hadramout through forming the so-called Hadramout National Council.