By HAN News Desk
RIYADH — Saudi warplanes have intensified low-altitude air patrols over Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province amid rising tensions linked to movements by UAE-backed southern forces, according to regional media reports that large numbers of mercenary forces have arrived in the area to support the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates, according to the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The reported Saudi air activity is seen as a warning signal aimed at deterring any military moves that could destabilize Hadramout, a strategically important and relatively stable region that hosts key oil fields and borders Saudi Arabia.
Sources cited by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said the mercenary forces are allegedly preparing to undermine the authority of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, with the ultimate goal of declaring an independent southern state, expanding beyond areas already controlled by the STC in Aden and other southern provinces.
The STC, which is heavily supported politically and militarily by the UAE, has long advocated for the secession of southern Yemen, a position that has repeatedly put it at odds with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, despite both sides being nominal allies in the Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.
Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition supporting Yemen’s recognized government, is believed to view any attempt to alter the status of Hadramout as a red line, given the province’s proximity to Saudi territory and its importance to regional security and energy routes.
The developments highlight deepening fractures within the anti-Houthi alliance, raising concerns that renewed internal conflict could further complicate efforts to stabilize Yemen after nearly a decade of war that has killed hundreds of thousands and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Saudi officials have not publicly commented on the reported air operations, and the STC has not issued an immediate response to the allegations.
