The United Arab Emirates announced on Saturday that it has completed the withdrawal of all its troops from Yemen amid heightened tensions in the conflict-ridden nation, which had caused friction between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, another key Gulf player.
In a statement from the UAE Defence Ministry, it was revealed that the decision to pull out the troops came after the conclusion of the remaining counterterrorism missions. Details regarding the number of soldiers and equipment withdrawn were not disclosed, but there were numerous Emirati military cargo flights observed moving in and out of Yemen recently.
Meanwhile, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist group in Yemen backed by the UAE, put forward a constitution for an independent nation in the southern part of the country. The STC’s call for other factions to recognize this move was seen as a bid for independence, although the practical implications of this declaration remained uncertain.
Recent developments saw STC-affiliated fighters taking control of two southern provinces from forces supported by Saudi Arabia and seizing the Presidential Palace in Aden, the primary city in the south. Consequently, members of the internationally recognized government, previously based in Aden, sought refuge in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Saudi Arabia conducted airstrikes on STC-held camps and military positions in Hadramout province in response to the separatists’ actions. The conflict highlighted the growing tensions between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and their respective allies in Yemen, who had been part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting against Houthi rebels backed by Iran in the country’s prolonged civil war.
Although the coalition’s primary objective had been to reinstate the internationally recognized government expelled by the Houthis from the north, internal rifts and external pressures were straining the alliance, raising the specter of renewed conflict and further destabilization in Yemen.