A fighter from the Security Belt Force holding a separatist flag during clashes between southern separatists and Saudi-backed government forces at the Fayush-Alam crossroads near Aden in southern Yemen on Aug. 30, 2019. Photo: Nabil Hasan/AFP.
Tensions have been heating up in recent weeks between UAE and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen’s largest province
Forces belonging to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) announced the capture of the city of Seiyun in the Hadhramaut province on 3 December.
In an operation dubbed “Promising Future,” STC forces took the city after clashes with troops affiliated with the Ministry of Defense of the internationally recognized Yemeni government – the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
Seiyun is the second largest city in the province of Hadhramaut.
The secessionist administration said in a statement on its website that it “congratulates the people of the south on the liberation of Wadi Hadhramaut, which came in response to the demands of the people … after what they had suffered during three decades from terrorist operations, security disturbances, smuggling of contraband, in addition to injustice in rights and public property.”
An anonymous STC official told The National on Wednesday that “We are aiming at controlling all of Hadhramaut.”
“There is a rebellion, and we will crush it,” the official added.
A day earlier, STC spokesman Anwar al-Tamimi accused Hadhramaut tribal leader Amr bin Habrish of aligning with ISIS and Al-Qaeda. STC forces are on “an official mission to secure this strategic area for the benefit of the province and to prevent the Houthis from exploiting it,” he added, despite there being no Ansarallah presence in Hadhramaut.
The tensions mark a significant escalation between Saudi and UAE-backed forces in Yemen.
Hadhramaut is the largest province of Yemen and constitutes more than one-third of the country’s area. In addition to oil and mineral wealth, it has a 450-kilometer coastline. The province is a major part of the secessionist state that the STC aspires to form in south Yemen.
On 27 November, the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance called in a statement for the defense of the oil-rich province and its natural resources, and to begin “resistance by all means and methods.”
The alliance called on its military wing – known as the Hadhramaut Protection Forces – to take “decisive steps” to confront the “dangerous movements” of “external forces” outside of the province, referring to the secessionist, Emirati-backed STC, which employs many foreign mercenaries and extremist fighters, and has been operating in Yemen since 2017.
Hadhramaut is facing “a clear attempt to control the governorate and its oil reserves,” it went on to say, stressing that “external” elements have already started to establish themselves in vital locations, take over camps, and isolate local leaders in the province.
Earlier this month, the tribal alliance accused STC forces of gearing up for a potential invasion.
The alliance was formed over a decade ago. Earlier this year, it set up an armed force known as the Hadhramaut Protection Forces, with the aim of protecting the province from what it says are threats to its natural resources. The group, aligned with the Saudi-led PLC, has taken control of several oil fields and transport routes in Hadhramaut since June 2025.
“The province is on the verge of an explosion unless the legitimate authority and the internationally recognized [PLC] government take action to defuse the tension,” analysts and observers cited by Reuters’ Arabic language site said late last month.
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Forces loyal to the PLC were recently stationed in the northern areas of the province. The STC has condemned the presence of these troops for their affiliation with the Saudi-backed, Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islah Party.
The UAE was a major partner in the Saudi-led war launched against Yemen and the Ansarallah-led government in Sanaa, which began in 2015.
Despite this, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have been embroiled in a rivalry over control and influence in Yemen over the past few years. Critics accuse both countries of seeking to divide Yemen to control its natural resources and strategic ports within their respective spheres of influence.
Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are “competing for control under the guise of supporting local autonomy,” Lebanese journalist Mawadda Iskanadar wrote for The Cradle in late October, adding that Hadhramaut has become a “testing ground” for this rivalry.
The UAE has established, in coordination with Israel, a large-scale occupation of Yemen’s islands. Emirati-backed forces affiliated with the STC also control much of the provinces of Marib and Shabwa, where troops loyal to the PLC are also present.
While the PLC and STC are at odds with one another, the two are closely linked. Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the deputy head of the PLC, also serves as the president of the STC.
