Bombing of Mukalla: Deep Rift in Saudi-UAE Coalition Against Ansar Allah

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Saudi Arabia bombed the port of Mukalla in Yemen on Tuesday. Riyadh identified a large arms shipment sent by the UAE to the separatist militia known as the Southern Transitional Council and unloaded at the port of Mukalla as the target of the airstrike. However, the UAE has not reacted.

The attack is a sign of escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which previously formed a coalition against Ansar Allah and are now at odds. The separatists known as the Southern Transitional Council act as the UAE’s proxy force in Yemen. The proxy conflict between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which have been fighting Ansar Allah for the past decade, is signaling the collapse of their coalition.

The official Saudi Press Agency said in a statement that the country's military airstrikes were carried out after ships arrived from the port of Fujairah on the east coast of the UAE.

The statement said: "The ships' crews had disabled tracking devices and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council forces. Given that these weapons were considered an imminent and dangerous threat to peace and stability, the coalition air force targeted weapons and military vehicles unloaded from two ships in Mukalla this morning in a limited attack."

It is not yet clear whether the attack caused any casualties. Saudi Arabia says it attacked at night to prevent further damage.

The attack is believed to have targeted the Greenland, a roll-on, roll-off vessel flying the St. Kitts flag. Tracking data shows that the vessel was in the port of Fujairah on September 12 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The identity of the second vessel is still unknown.

“I expect both sides to escalate the tension in a calculated manner,” said Mohammed Al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the risk consultancy Basha Report. “The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council will probably react by consolidating its control. At the same time, the flow of arms from the UAE to Yemen will be limited after the attack on the port, especially given that Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.”

Images later released by Saudi state television, apparently captured by a reconnaissance aircraft, showed armored vehicles stationed in Mukalla.

Mukalla is in Yemen’s Hadhramaut province, which the Southern Transitional Council recently seized. The port is located northeast of Aden.

Saudi Arabia also targeted Southern Transitional Council positions with airstrikes on Friday, in what analysts described as a warning to stop the separatist advance and withdraw from Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces.

The Southern Transitional Council had driven out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed “National Shield Forces,” a group considered one of the most important sides of the anti-Ansar Allah coalition, from these areas.

After entering the new provinces, forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council have increasingly raised the flag of South Yemen, a country that existed independently from 1967 to 1990. In recent days, demonstrations have been held in support of political forces in favor of re-separating South Yemen.

The separatist actions have put great strain on Saudi-Emirati relations; The two countries, although they have close relations and are members of OPEC, have competed with each other for influence and international trade in recent years.