Saudi Arabia prepares to launch new strikes against UAE in southern Yemen

ADEN, Jan. 11 (YPA) -Riyadh is seeking to direct new strikes against the UAE in Yemeni areas under the control of the Saudi-led coalition, informed Saudi sources revealed on Wednesday.

Abdullah al-Hatila, assistant editor-in-chief of the Saudi official Okaz newspaper, said Riyadh would seek to form new councils in coalition-held areas in Yemen.

“We wish success to the unified council of the eastern governorates of Yemen (Shabwa, Mahra, Hadramawt, and Socotra), and all the councils to be formed in the future to be real building blocks in the expected peace process,” al-Hatila said in a post on his X account.

The forces loyal to Saudi Arabia had announced on Tuesday the formation of a “unified council” for the eastern provinces of Yemen, which includes the governorates of “Shabwa, Hadramawt, Al-Mahra and Socotra.” In a move described as a new shift in the ongoing conflict between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi for control of the eastern provinces of Yemen.

It seems through the statements of a journalist close to the Saudi palace, Abdullah Al-Hatila, that Riyadh’s moves against the UAE will not be limited to the eastern governorates, as it seems that the Saudis are moving to end the UAE’s unilateralism in southern Yemen, in the governorates of Abyan, Aden, Lahj and Al-Dhale, in order to pressure the UAE and restore the role of the Saudi leadership in the coalition, after Riyadh was marginalized by its Emirati partner in the southern regions of Yemen.

Despite Saudi moves in the coalition-held areas by announcing the formation of the “unified council”, the UAE and its affiliated forces did not take any official position to confront the Saudi move, but activists in Abu Dhabi and Aden launched attacks against the pro-Saudi council.

E.M