At least 30 people have been killed in Saudi airstrikes targeting forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen’s southwestern Al-Dhale province, regional sources told Russian media.
One source said that “no fewer than 20 people” died in initial raids carried out by the Saudi-led coalition against STC-aligned fighters in Dhale, while another source later put the death toll at around 30, adding that Saudi aircraft conducted more than 15 strikes on separatist positions and military equipment.
The escalation comes amid a sharp rift between Yemen’s internationally recognized authorities and the UAE-backed STC leadership. Earlier on 7 January, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said STC chief Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, who was due to fly to Riyadh on 6 January for talks with Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, failed to board his flight and then disappeared.
According to the coalition’s account, around midnight STC forces began moving weapons and hardware toward Al-Dhale, prompting preemptive airstrikes aimed at disrupting separatist units and preventing a further flare-up of the conflict.
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council has since accused al-Zoubaidi of high treason, stripped him of his seat on the council and referred his case to the public prosecutor. For its part, the STC maintains that its leader is in Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, continuing to perform his duties, and says it has lost contact with a delegation that had flown to Saudi Arabia for talks.
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Photo: Jialiang Gao/Creative Commons 3.0
Based on materials from TASS