UAE-backed leader in Hadramout threatens Saudi Arabia with “moving battle beyond borders”

HADRAMOUT, Nov. 24 (YPA) – Tensions have dangerously escalated in the oil-rich Hadramout province in eastern Yemen between allies of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, following inflammatory statements by a military commander loyal to Abu Dhabi.

Saleh bin Al-Sheikh Abu Bakr (known as “Abu Ali Al-Hadrami”), commander of the “Security Support” factions and advisor to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) president, threatened to move the battle “beyond the borders,” in a clear reference to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Hadrami described the Saudi presence in Hadramout as “frivolous” and threatened an unprecedented escalation. He also accused the Saudi-funded “Hadramout Protection” factions of being an “armed gang robbing public funds and oil.”

This escalation comes within the context of a struggle for influence and control over oil and mineral wealth between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in the region, using their local proxies.

Activists and human rights defenders from Hadramout warned that the UAE escalation aims to tear apart the social fabric, noting the similarity between the UAE-backed tools and the “Rapid Support Forces” (RSF) in Sudan.

The UAE-funded factions are attempting to complete their control over the oil-rich coastal districts amid reports of assassinations and torture against civilians and detainees in the prisons run by these factions.

YPA