Yemen separatists say Saudi strikeswill not deter them

AFP | Al Mukalla

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Yemen separatists said they would not be deterred from pursuing their objectives after air strikes they blamed on Saudi Arabia hit their positions yesterday.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the air strikes, which came amid a dramatic escalation in a conflict that, for more than a decade, has plunged Yemen into humanitarian catastrophe.

On Friday, following a Saudi call on them to pull back, the separatists accused Riyadh of conducting air strikes on their positions.

A video aired on separatist-affiliated media showed a plume of smoke rising from the desert, with four-wheel white cars in the foreground.

“The Council affirms that such actions will not serve any path of understanding and will not deter the people of the South from continuing to move forward toward restoring their full rights,” the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) said.

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs the government, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request to confirm the strikes.

‘Last resort’

A Yemeni government official in Riyadh told AFP earlier this week that Saudi Arabia was considering military action against the STC as a “last resort” should efforts to persuade the group to withdraw from newly-seized territory fail.

The head of Yemen’s presidential council Rashad al-Alimi met with Western ambassadors and with Saudi Arabia’s defence minister and dispatched government envoys to Aden to persuade the STC to withdraw from Hadramawt and Mahra, said the official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-Emirati military delegation visited Aden to ask the STC to return the two provinces, with Saudi deescalation efforts still ongoing, Riyadh said on Friday.

If efforts to return those areas collapse, Saudi Arabia had signalled to the Yemeni government that it could launch air strikes and deploy the Nation Shield forces.

The strikes also came a day after Saudi Arabia urged the separatists to withdraw from Hadramawt and Mahra provinces.

On Friday, the UAE welcomed efforts by Saudi Arabia to support security in Yemen, as the two Gulf allies sought to present a united front.

Oman, a mediator that also borders Yemen, called for “avoiding escalation... and engaging in a comprehensive political dialogue”.