Saudi Jets Strike UAE-Backed Forces in Yemen as Coalition Crumbles

The fragile alliance between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Yemen has officially collapsed into open conflict. On Friday, Saudi Air Force jets conducted targeted airstrikes against positions held by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the eastern province of Hadramout, marking the first direct kinetic engagement between the two Gulf powers’ proxies.
The strikes, which hit STC convoys near Wadi Nahb, came just hours after Riyadh issued a final ultimatum demanding the immediate withdrawal of separatist forces from the critical oil-rich region. The STC, emboldened by recent battlefield victories and logistical support from Abu Dhabi, had ignored the warning, pressing forward with its “Operation Promising Future” campaign.
“This is the end of the coalition as we know it,” said a regional security analyst. “We are no longer looking at a war against the Houthis; we are witnessing a war for the map of southern Yemen.”
The escalation follows a month of rapid STC advances. Earlier in December, separatist forces seized the headquarters of the 1st Military Region in Seiyun—a long-standing stronghold of Saudi-aligned government forces—and effectively took control of the border province of Al-Mahrah. These moves threatened to sever Saudi Arabia’s land corridor to the Indian Ocean, a strategic red line for the Kingdom.
In response, Riyadh has mobilized the “Nation Shield Forces” and the local Hadramout Tribal Alliance to launch a counter-offensive. Friday’s airstrikes appear to be close air support for these ground units as they attempt to retake the vital oil fields of Masila.
While the UAE has officially remained silent on the strikes, sources indicate that Abu Dhabi views the Saudi intervention as a direct attack on its interests. The rift, previously managed behind closed doors, is now a public war, with the potential to fracture the Gulf Cooperation Council and plunge Yemen into a new, even more complex phase of chaos.