RIYADH: Concern is mounting that Yemen is sliding toward a de-facto partition, with rival authorities consolidating control over separate regions.
In the south, the Southern Transitional Council has expanded its footprint, while Iran-backed Houthi forces remain firmly entrenched in the north.
Those fears have intensified in recent weeks, driven by the STC’s latest military operation and the widening Red Sea conflict. Together, they raise a central question: Will Yemen’s decade-long war end in reconciliation, or fracture into competing statelets?
On Dec. 23, Rashad Al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, the executive body of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, warned that unilateral actions by the STC were pushing the country toward a dangerous tipping point.
Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, president of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen, speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters on September 25, 2025 in New York City. (AFP)
