UAE and Saudi Arabia Mobilize Forces to Seize Hadhramaut
Following a tribal council meeting in the Al-Aleeb area of the Hadhramaut plateau, the Hadhramaut Tribal Council issued a statement placing the Hadhramaut Protection Forces on high alert and granting them full authority to take immediate and preemptive action against any external forces entering the province.
At the same time, reinforcements from the Southern Transitional Council (STC), consisting of hundreds of fighters and military vehicles, have entered the city of Mukalla. In addition, a battalion from Tariq Saleh’s forces has been deployed to a camp west of Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadhramaut.
Given the large-scale deployment of STC fighters to Hadhramaut over the past two weeks, the likelihood of a southern military offensive against the Hadhramaut tribes has increased. The province’s oil-rich areas remain under tribal control, and tribal leaders — backed by Saudi Arabia — have refused to transfer revenues to the exiled government or the STC. This has fueled sharp tensions and rivalry between UAE- and Saudi-backed factions in Yemen’s occupied territories.
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