The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has alleged the United Arab Emirates helped smuggle a separatist leader out of the country after he was expelled from Yemen's presidential council and accused of treason.
A coalition spokesman stated that Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), fled Aden on Tuesday night in a boat to Somaliland. He was reportedly then flown by cargo aircraft to Abu Dhabi via Mogadishu under the supervision of UAE officers.
No immediate comments have been made by the UAE or the STC. However, the STC claimed Zubaidi was still operating from Aden on Wednesday, refuting the coalition's claims that he had fled.
The coalition has further accused Zubaidi of relocating STC forces from their bases in Aden to his home province of al-Dahle, leading to airstrikes by the coalition in response, resulting in casualties.
Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Malki shared that Zubaidi and his associates fled aboard a flagged passenger ship to Berbera in Somaliland, where they boarded a plane operated by UAE personnel that deactivated its identification systems during the flight.
This upheaval comes amidst escalating tensions in southern Yemen, deepening the rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which previously cooperated in the region. Following Saudi warnings regarding the advancing STC forces, both countries have seen their relationship threatened by differing agendas and strategies in Yemen.
The incidents in Aden signal a precarious future for the region's stability, already strained by years of civil war and inter-factional conflict.
