Saudi-backed forces fanned out across Yemen’s port city of Mukalla on Sunday after the internationally recognized government retook the Hadramout provincial capital from southern separatists following days of Saudi airstrikes.
Video footage obtained by The Associated Press showed the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces being welcomed by residents as the troops drove through streets in armed vehicles. Forces also were seen driving around and outside Mukalla’s al-Rayyan Airport.
Ahmed Samaan and Bakr al-Ketheri, residents of the Hadramout towns of al-Qatn and Seiyun, told the AP that the Emirati-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, had withdrawn from military camps.
Tensions escalated after the STC moved into the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra last month and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out forces affiliated with National Shield Forces, which are aligned with the Saudi-led coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the north and the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. But the United Arab Emirates, a coalition member, also supports the separatists.
