UAE-Backed Separatists Arrest Dozens of Saudi-Backed Pro-Hadi Forces


UAE-Backed Separatists Arrest Dozens of Saudi-Backed Pro-Hadi Forces

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – UAE-backed separatists in southern Yemen said they arrested dozens of troops loyal to ex-Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Aden Saturday after Hadi's forces withdrew from the port city following airstrikes by the United Arab Emirates.

On Thursday, UAE warplanes bombed pr-Hadi forces in Aden, shifting the balance of power in a month-long battle between the separatists and Hadi for control of the city and southern Yemeni provinces. Hadi's forces withdrew from Aden after the airstrikes, which killed and injured at least 300 soldiers.

On Saturday, an edgy calm returned to Aden but separatists were patrolling the streets and seen carrying out more arrests across the city, four residents told Reuters.

The ex-government said the arrests were "politically motivated." Separatists, however, denied this, saying dozens of "terrorists and outlaws" had been rounded up.

The situation in south Yemen is constantly shifting under frequent territorial exchanges between the two warring sides.

On Wednesday, the former government said in a statement that its forces had wrested control of Aden back from militia from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) group which seized it on August 10 after four days of fierce clashes.

But on Thursday, the STC said its forces had retaken the city, after bringing in reinforcements and bolstering their positions.

Both the UAE-sponsored separatists and the Saudi-backed pro-Hadi militants serve the Riyadh-led coalition and have been engaged, since 2015, in a bloody war on Yemen aimed at reinstating Hadi and crushing the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The former president resigned in 2014 and later fled to the Saudi capital.

Ties between the two sides have soured over a number of issues, including what the Yemenis view as Abu Dhabi’s intention to occupy Yemen’s strategic Socotra Island and gain dominance over the major waterways in the region.

Last month, the UAE announced a surprise plan to withdraw part of its troops from Yemen, largely because Abu Dhabi believes the war appears to have become “unwinnable”.

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