Yemen cancels defense pact with UAE, orders 24-hour troop withdrawal after alleged STC arms shipment
- Nationwide state of emergency declared for 90 days; 72-hour air and land ban on ports and border crossings
- Saudi-led coalition says it carried out a “limited” strike on two ships in Mukalla port
- Yemeni government backs move; UAE offers no immediate comment
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Yemen on Tuesday scrapped a joint defense agreement with the United Arab Emirates and ordered all Emirati forces to leave the country within 24 hours, escalating a rift among ostensible allies after what Yemeni authorities described as an unauthorized arms shipment to Southern Transitional Council forces in the south.
“All Emirati forces must withdraw from all Yemeni territory within 24 hours,” Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address. He announced a nationwide state of emergency for 90 days and a 72-hour air and land ban at all ports and border crossings, effective immediately.
The decision followed a “limited” airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition targeting two ships at the port of Mukalla in eastern Yemen. Coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the vessels, which arrived from the UAE port of Fujairah on Dec. 27–28, entered Mukalla without authorization from the coalition’s Joint Forces Command, according to remarks carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
Al-Alimi framed the moves as a response to a pattern he said had undermined Yemen’s institutions, accusing Abu Dhabi of exerting pressure on the UAE-backed STC “to act unilaterally, exploit the just southern cause, and attempt to paralyze constitutional state institutions represented by the Presidential Leadership Council and the government.” He said those pressures had enabled military escalations, including “attacks on armed forces positions” and “repeated assaults” on tribes and civilians in Hadramout.
Calling the southern question “a just cause” central to rebuilding the state, al-Alimi warned that “no one has the right to exploit the southern issue to achieve political objectives.” He urged the STC to pull its forces back and return to dialogue, which he said the group had rebuffed “at a time when the country was in greatest need of dialogue.”
There was no immediate comment from the UAE.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government endorsed the decisions, calling unilateral steps by the STC and the entry of weapons and fighters “from outside official frameworks” a “serious security breach” that violated the terms of the transition and de-escalation efforts. The government also praised Saudi Arabia’s “historic and steadfast” support, welcoming a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement that affirmed Hadramout and al-Mahra as integral parts of the Yemeni state.
Tensions have surged since the STC, which seeks southern independence and has long complained of political and economic marginalization, seized control of Hadramout and al-Mahra earlier this month after clashes with government forces. The Yemeni authorities reject any partition, insisting on territorial unity.
The rupture with the UAE injects fresh volatility into Yemen’s fractured conflict landscape. The UAE is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government, while also backing southern forces. The coalition’s strike in Mukalla and Yemen’s emergency measures signal a hardening stance by the government and its Saudi ally against perceived end-runs around joint command structures and the political roadmap.
Al-Alimi thanked Riyadh for efforts to tamp down tensions and “support the Yemeni people,” even as he cast the latest events as a red line for national sovereignty. With ports and borders partially shut and a withdrawal clock ticking for Emirati personnel, the next 24 to 72 hours will test whether the competing power centers can avoid a deeper rupture — or whether Yemen’s south becomes a new flashpoint in a war already marked by fragmented fronts and shifting alliances.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
