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Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemen Port 12/30 06:32
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of
Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates
arrived for separatist forces in the war-torn country, and starkly warned that
it viewed Emirati actions as "extremely dangerous."
The bombing followed days of tensions over the advance of the separatist
forces known as the Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the
Emirates. Despite the warning, the Council and its allies issued a statement
supporting the UAE's presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded
Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours' time.
The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen's decadelong war,
with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthis possibly turning their
sights on each other in the Arab world's poorest nation long stalked by famine
and disease.
It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighboring
nations on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed with each
other over economic issues and the region's politics, particularly in the wider
Red Sea region.
"I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides. The UAE-backed Southern
Transitional Council is likely to respond by consolidating control," said
Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and the founder of the Basha Report, a risk
advisory firm.
"At the same time, the flow of weapons from the UAE to the STC is set to be
curtailed following the port attack, particularly as Saudi Arabia controls the
airspace."
Airstrike hits Mukalla
A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced
the strikes, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah, a port
city on the UAE's eastern coast.
"The ships' crew had the disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and
unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the
Southern Transitional Council's forces," the statement said.
"Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat,
and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force
has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and
military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla," it added.
It wasn't clear if there were any casualties from the strike.
Yemen's anti-Houthi forces later declared a state of emergency Tuesday,
ending its cooperation with the UAE and ordering all Emirati forces within its
territory to evacuate within 24 hours. It issued a 72-hour ban on all border
crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports,
except those allowed by Saudi Arabia.
The UAE did not respond to questions from the AP. Abu Dhabi's
English-language state-linked newspaper The National reported on the strike.
The Council's AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the aftermath of
the strike, but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles near the port.
"This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will
only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a
South Arabian state," the channel said.
The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a roll-on,
roll-off vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP
showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on
Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.
Footage later aired by Saudi state television, which appeared to be filmed
by a surveillance aircraft, purportedly showed the armored vehicles moving from
the ship through Mukalla to a staging area. The types of vehicles corresponded
to the social media footage.
Strike comes as separatists advance
Mukalla is in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, which the Council had seized in
recent days. The port city is some 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of
Aden, which has been the seat of power for anti-Houthi forces in Yemen after
the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, back in 2014.
Yemen, on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula off East Africa,
borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
The war there has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and
civilians, and created one of the globe's worst humanitarian disasters, killing
tens of thousands more.
The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the
Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war, greatly disrupting regional
shipping.
The strike Tuesday in Mukalla comes after Saudi Arabia targeted the Council
in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists
to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.
The Council had pushed out forces there affiliated with the Saudi-backed
National Shield Forces, another group in the coalition fighting the Houthis.
Those aligned with the Council have increasingly flown the flag of South
Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators have been
rallying for days to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede
again from Yemen.
The actions by the separatists have put pressure on the relationship between
Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which maintain close relations and are members of the
OPEC oil cartel, but also have competed for influence and international
business in recent years. Saudi Arabia in particular has sought to draw foreign
firms from Dubai, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and long a hub for
expatriate workers.
The countries have had border disputes in the past, even before the UAE's
founding in 1971. Tuesday's airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be the
most-serious confrontation between the nations in decades.
There has also been an escalation of violence in Sudan, another nation on
the Red Sea, where the kingdom and the Emirates support opposing forces in that
country's ongoing war.
A statement Tuesday from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry directly linked the
Council's advance to the Emiratis for the first time.
"The kingdom notes that the steps taken by the sisterly United Arab Emirates
are extremely dangerous," it said.
Allies of the Council issued a statement afterward in which they showed no
signs of backing down.
Meanwhile, Israel has acknowledged Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland
as an independent nation, the first to do so in over 30 years. That's sparked
concern from the Houthis, who have threatened to attack any Israeli presence in
Somaliland.
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