UAE-backed forces withdraw from several locations in Hadramout amid Saudi military pressure

HADRAMOUT, Dec. 24 (YPA) – Armed groups affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) factions, have withdrawn on Tuesday from several sites and checkpoints in Al-Abr district in Yemen’s eastern province of Hadramout, bordering Saudi Arabia, amid heightened military tensions and intensive Saudi Air Force flights.

Local media sources reported that armed units of the UAE-funded “Al-Amaliqa” forces withdrew from the “Akban” and “Al-Wahd” checkpoints in Al-Abr, handing them over to the Saudi-backed “Dera Al-Watan” forces.

The sources said the move is part of broader military arrangements aimed at enabling Saudi-backed forces to assert control over the 37th Armored Brigade’s camp in Al-Khasha’a area.

The withdrawal from the two checkpoints and surrounding areas coincided with heavy Saudi combat aircraft activity, creating a series of sonic booms over the 37th Brigade camp and nearby locations.

According to the sources, this was a “firm” message to the STC forces, which had resisted and refused to leave the camp for several weeks.

Activists from Hadramout circulated videos showing the Saudi-backed forces moving to take control of positions vacated by the UAE-funded “Al-Amaliqa” forces.

These developments in Al-Abr follow a Saudi drone strike last Friday that targeted an Al-Amaliqa military vehicle at the “Khashm Al-Ain” site, injuring one person.

Saudi Arabia has considered the advance of UAE-backed forces into the Wadi and Desert districts of Hadramout, reaching the Al-Abr border area, as a direct threat to its security amid the escalating power struggle between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in Yemen’s resource-rich eastern governorates.

@E.Y.M