This is interesting because of the ties the UAE has with Israel. Also, I have a theory that the Antichrist is the crown prince of Dubai, one of the seven heads of the beast and the UAE, and also an Arab nation capable of lulling Israel into a false peace.
Saudi-backed forces say they have full control over the territory
By MEE staff
The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) fighters on Sunday withdrew from the city of Mukalla in eastern Yemen‘s province of Hadhramaut, state-run Yemen TV reported.
Mukalla is the most important city in Hadhramout governorate and houses the al-Dhabba oil port and al-Rayyan International Airport.
STC fighters were killed after Saudi Arabia carried out air strikes on positions held by the STC in southeastern Yemen, the separatist group said on Friday. Strikes were also reported at an airport and military base in Hadhramaut’s city of Seiyun.
The attacks came as forces backed by Riyadh launched an offensive to reclaim territory taken over by the STC in December.
The Hadhramaut governor, Salem al-Khanbashi, said that the Yemeni government now had full control of the province.
“We have regained full control of all Hadhramaut territory, expelled STC forces, and begun administering duties and normalising life,” Salem al-Khanbashi told reporters.
The pro-government Nation’s Shield Forces (NSF) confirmed that they had given a safe corridor for the STC fighters to withdraw toward Aden.
They said STC forces were allowed to leave the city, carrying only personal arms.
Footage broadcast by Yemen TV showed government forces operating from al-Rayyan International Airport, a day after government forces seized control of the eastern al-Mahra province from the STC.
Together, al-Mahra and Hadhramaut provinces account for nearly half of Yemen’s territory and share borders with Saudi Arabia.
On 16 December, following weeks of escalating tensions in Yemen’s eastern regions, STC claimed control over Hadhramaut and al-Mahra governorates as Saudi-backed forces withdrew from their military bases in Aden.
The NSF had shifted from their military bases in the south-western governorates of Aden, Lahj, Abyan, and al-Dhali to the area between al-Wadiah and al-Abr in the east.
A military spokesperson for the STC last week told AFP that the group was now in a “decisive and existential” war with Saudi-backed forces.
However, with the latest strikes, the control seemed to have shifted from the UAE-backed STC back into the hands of the Saudi-led NSF.
NSF supports the Presidential Leadership Council, Yemen’s internationally recognised authority led by President Rashad al-Alimi, and has been in conflict with the separatist group STC.
UAE and Israel ties
The STC’s stated political goal is to secede and re-establish an independent Southern Yemen, as it existed before the 1990 unification. The separatist group is supported and funded by the UAE.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia bombed an Emirati shipment in southern Yemen and called out the UAE’s role in backing the separatists.
Riyadh targeted a shipment that had arrived in the Yemeni port of Mukalla on two vessels originating in Fujairah, a port city on the east coast of the UAE.
UAE-backed southern Yemen separatists to hold independence referendum
The Saudi foreign ministry said it was disappointed by actions taken by the UAE, “pressuring” the STC’s forces to conduct military operations on Saudi Arabia’s southern border, in Hadhramaut and al-Mahra.
In 2020, STC fighters seized control of Socotra, a strategic chain of islands along a key shipping route between Europe and Asia, where both the UAE and Israel have been involved in constructing military bases.
Israeli systems on the islands allow the UAE to monitor and thwart attacks launched by the Houthis.
STC has also signalled a willingness to normalise relations with Israel.
On Friday, the group said it will hold a referendum on independence amid deadly fighting with Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies.
The STC’s announcement on a referendum came after Israel unilaterally recognised the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland as an independent state.
Somaliland has deep military and political ties to the UAE. Unlike other Arab states, Abu Dhabi did not condemn the Israeli decision.