Al-Zubaidi accuses Saudi Arabia of colluding with extremist groups in southern Yemen

ADEN, Sept. 01 (YPA) – Aidarous al-Zubaidi, head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), has accused Riyadh of colluding with and supporting terrorist organizations operating in Yemen’s southern provinces.

In a post on his “X” account on Monday, Al-Zubaidi claimed that STC factions played a key role over past years in striking terrorist hideouts and severing smuggling routes for drugs and violence throughout the southern governorates.

Al-Zubaidi said those gains were later “destroyed” after Saudi warplanes targeted his forces and forced them to withdraw from their positions, apparently referring to Saudi airstrikes on STC positions in Wadi Hadramout late last year.

He added that the Saudi actions “enabled extremist groups to reclaim their strongholds,” accusing Riyadh of supporting and recruiting such elements into its affiliated armed formations.

Al-Zubaidi has not appeared in public since early January, following a Saudi airstrike targeting his hometown in Dhalea in what sources described as an assassination attempt. The STC was subsequently dissolved after Al-Zubaidi declined to travel to Riyadh to attend the so-called “South-South dialogue,” amid accusations that he had committed treason. Meanwhile, Saudi authorities have continued to detain an STC delegation in Riyadh for nine consecutive months.

Saudi military spokesman Turki Al-Maliki previously said that Al-Zubaidi had fled Aden by sea to Somalia before traveling by air to the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

@E.Y.M