Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen’s Mukalla port over alleged UAE weapons shipment

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday carried out airstrikes on the port city of Mukalla in eastern Yemen, accusing two ships from the United Arab Emirates of delivering weapons and combat vehicles to a separatist faction operating in the region.

According to a statement by the Saudi-led coalition, the vessels arrived from Fujairah on the UAE’s eastern coast without coalition authorisation and allegedly switched off their tracking systems before unloading the cargo. Riyadh said the weapons were intended for the Southern Transitional Council, a UAE-backed separatist group active in southern and eastern Yemen.

The coalition described the strikes as a limited military operation targeting only the weapons and vehicles, warning that the shipment posed a serious threat to security and stability. It said the operation was conducted in line with international humanitarian law and aimed to avoid civilian harm. There was no immediate information on casualties or damage, and the UAE did not comment on the allegations.

Following the strikes, Yemeni authorities aligned with the Saudi-backed government reportedly imposed tighter security measures, including temporary restrictions at ports, airports, and border crossings, amid fears of further escalation and internal clashes.

The attack underscores growing tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Southern Transitional Council, as well as widening strains between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, longtime allies whose interests in Yemen have increasingly diverged during the decade-long conflict against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The roots of this rift date back to the early stages of Yemen’s civil war in 2014. Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened militarily in 2015 as part of a coalition aimed at restoring Yemen’s internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. While both countries shared the goal of countering Iranian influence, their longer-term priorities differed.

Saudi Arabia has largely focused on preserving a unified Yemen under a central government friendly to Riyadh, driven by concerns over border security and regional stability. The UAE, by contrast, has concentrated on securing key ports and trade routes in southern Yemen and countering Islamist groups, backing local militias that later formed the Southern Transitional Council in 2017.

The STC seeks autonomy or independence for southern Yemen, reviving grievances that trace back to Yemen’s unification in 1990 and the failed southern secession attempt in 1994. Its rise has repeatedly brought it into conflict with Saudi-backed government forces, even as both sides nominally oppose the Houthis.

Despite Saudi-brokered power-sharing agreements intended to ease tensions, implementation has been uneven, leaving mistrust and rivalries unresolved. As the STC expanded its control over parts of southern and eastern Yemen, Saudi Arabia increasingly viewed UAE support for the group as undermining Yemen’s unity and the coalition’s original mission.

The Mukalla strikes highlight how those unresolved divisions within the anti-Houthi alliance have now spilled into open confrontation, turning Yemen’s internal power struggles into a broader regional dispute between former partners.

While the United States has not issued a statement specifically on the Mukalla strike, Washington has previously expressed concern about rising tensions among coalition members in Yemen. U.S. officials have urged restraint and called for diplomacy to prevent further escalation, signalling awareness of the fractures between Saudi Arabia and the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council.