Saudi Airstrikes In Yemen Expose Deepening Rift With UAE

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Cairo ~ Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) escalated sharply on Tuesday after Yemen announced the cancellation of its joint defence agreement with Abu Dhabi, ordered the withdrawal of all Emirati forces within 24 hours, and declared a nationwide state of emergency amid Saudi airstrikes on the strategic port city of Mukalla.

The developments mark a dramatic rupture between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, once close allies who jointly led a military coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in northern Yemen after the group seized the capital, Sana'a, in 2014.

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Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi, in a televised address, accused the UAE of violating Yemen's sovereignty by shipping arms to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group operating in southern Yemen.

“All Emirati forces must withdraw from all Yemeni territory within 24 hours,” al-Alimi said, announcing a 90-day state of emergency effective immediately. He also imposed a 72-hour air and land ban on all ports and border crossings across areas under government control, allowing access only with Saudi approval.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition launched what it described as a“limited” airstrike targeting weapons shipments unloaded at Mukalla port in Yemen's Hadramout governorate. According to Coalition Forces spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, two ships arriving from the UAE port of Fujairah on December 27–28 entered Mukalla without authorisation from the coalition's Joint Forces Command.

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