Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on Yemen’s port city of Mukalla after an alleged arms shipment arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saudi Arabia also warned Abu Dhabi to withdraw from Yemen within 24 hours.
Following the bombing, the UAE announced it was withdrawing its remaining troops from Yemen. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties from the airstrikes.
Tensions rose over the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group backed by the UAE, and the attack on Mukalla. Figures aligned with Saudi Arabia called for Emirati forces to leave Yemen within a day, while the STC and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE’s presence.
Before agreeing to the demand and announcing its withdrawal, the UAE called for “restraint and wisdom.”
Coalition-led airstrike in Mukalla
A military statement announcing the airstrikes on Mukalla was released by the Saudi Press Agency. According to the statement, the bombings happened after ships allegedly carrying weapons arrived at the port from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
The statement said, “The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces.”
It added: “Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that targeted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla.”
What did the UAE say?
The UAE initially denied sending weapons to Mukalla but said the shipment carried vehicles ‘for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen’.
The UAE also announced that it would start withdrawing from the city after “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations”. The country did not specify a timeline for the withdrawal.
Mukalla is located in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate, which the Southern Transitional Council has taken control of in recent days. The port city is about 480 kilometres northeast of Aden, which has been the centre of power for anti-Houthi forces since the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
