ADEN: Southern Yemeni separatists vowed on Thursday to avenge a government assault on their positions in Aden and brought in reinforcements from elsewhere, threatening an escalation in fighting between nominal allies in the country’s complex war.
The separatists and Yemen’s internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi are supposed allies in a coalition embroiled in a largely stalemated war against Ansar Allah who hold the capital Sanaa in the north and most other populated areas.
But the UAE has fallen out with Hadi’s side as it includes a party the UAE sees as close to the Brotherhood, which the Gulf state seeks to neutralise across the Middle East.
Hadi’s government said on Wednesday it had recaptured Aden airport and controlled most of the southern port city, an assertion quickly disputed by the separatists.
On Thursday, the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) said some of its troops positioned on the outskirts of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, which is under Ansar Allah control, had returned to Aden to join the battle against Hadi’s forces.
“To whoever said the Southern Resistance has fled, I say: We are here,” Hani Ben Brik, STC’s vice-president, said in a video shared on social media showing him with dozens of his fighters outside Aden’s airport building.
Yemen’s foreign minister accused others which backs the separatists, of carrying out air strikes on government positions in Aden. An official said over 30 soldiers were killed by air strikes on the eastern outskirts. — Reuters
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