ADEN: Yemen'sgovernment yesterday accused the UAE of launching air strikes against itstroops in the interim capital Aden in support of separatists who say they haveregained control of the southern city. The United Arab Emirates has trained andsupported separatists who seek an independent southern Yemen, although it is akey pillar in a Saudi-led military coalition backing the Yemeni governmentagainst Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
"The Yemenigovernment condemns the Emirati air strikes against government forces in theinterim capital Aden and in Zinjibar, which resulted in civilian and militarycasualties," Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Al-Hadhrami said in a tweet.He urged coalition leader Saudi Arabia "to stand by the legitimategovernment and stop this illegal and unjustified military escalation".
The clashesbetween separatists and government forces -- who for years fought on the sameside against the Houthis -- have raised concerns that the famine-threatenedcountry could break apart entirely. The deputy foreign minister did not saywhen the alleged air strikes took place.
But residents inAden told AFP they heard air raids late Wednesday when forces loyal to YemeniPresident Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi entered Aden, which separatists had capturedearlier this month. Yesterday a spokesman for the separatists' SouthernTransitional Council (STC) said the UAE-backed Security Belt Forces were infull control of Aden after renewed clashes with government forces.
Reinforcements
"TheSecurity Belt force completely controls the city of Aden along with itsentrances," spokesman Haitham Nezar said. A government security sourceconfirmed Aden was under the full control of the STC, saying government troopswho entered parts of the city a day earlier "withdrew from Aden" toAbyan province. The STC-dominated separatists brought massive reinforcementsfrom other regions, officials from both sides said.
Nezar said theSecurity Belt forces were now setting their sights on the nearby provinces ofAbyan and Shabwa, which had been retaken by government troops earlier thisweek. "Our plan is to kick out the invading forces from the south,"said Nezar, referring to government forces seen by the separatists asoutsiders.
The Yemenigovernment has also drafted in reinforcements from the north as the two partiesappear to be preparing for a major showdown for supremacy in the south of theArabian Peninsula nation. STC vicepresident Hani bin Breik posted pictures of himself and other southern leaderstouring the streets of the city including the airport, while warning fleeinggovernment loyalists of punishment.
Thousands ofSecurity Belt troops, dominated by the STC, were recalled from several parts ofthe country, including from the Red Sea port city of Hodeida, to reinforce theseparatists in Aden. Bin Breik said that STC forces fighting against theHouthis in the north were sent to the south for a major battle. "We willnot remain in the (battle) fronts to liberate the north from the Houthis whilethe north is invading us," he said. The STC is fighting to regain theindependence of South Yemen which unified with the north in 1990.
'Dialogue onlyway'
Hadi's governmentsaid on Wednesday it had seized back Aden from separatists who captured thestrategic city on August 10 after a fierce battle that left at least 40 peopledead. The fighting has opened a new front in a complex war that has alreadyclaimed tens of thousands of lives and sparked what the United Nations callsthe world's worst humanitarian crisis
The coalitionintervened in the war in 2015 in support of the government after the Houthisswept south from their northern stronghold to seize the capital Sanaa and muchof Yemen -- the Arab world's poorest nation. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,meeting in Washington with Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister, PrinceKhalid bin Salman, called for a negotiated resolution with STC forces.
Pompeo and theprince "agreed that dialogue represents the only way to achieve a stable,unified and prosperous Yemen," the State Department said in a statement.The meeting came after The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, saidUS President Donald Trump's administration was pursuing secret talks with theHouthis in hopes of winding down the violence. - AFP