Riyadh warns Yemeni separatists against any military action

Saudi Arabia warned on Saturday that it would respond to any military action carried out by separatist forces against the Yemeni government, while urging the separatists to “peacefully” withdraw from the recently seized provinces. The announcement came a day after strikes on separatist positions, which the fighters blamed on Saudi Arabia.

General Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, said the coalition would “directly and at the appropriate time… handle any military action” targeting the Yemeni government “in order to protect the lives of civilians” in the southern province of Hadramout, according to a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). He added that Riyadh still hopes for a “peaceful” resolution, calling on separatist forces to withdraw from the conquered areas.

“It is time,” Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman wrote on X, “for the separatists — at this sensitive stage — to let reason prevail… by withdrawing their forces from the two provinces of Hadramout and Mahra and handing them over peacefully to the authorities.”

Separatists seek to restore South Yemen

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) has seized large areas of territory in recent weeks, particularly in Hadramout, saying it aims to re-establish the former state of South Yemen, which existed independently from 1967 to 1990.

Amid rising tensions, the internationally recognized Yemeni government on Friday called on the Saudi-led coalition to take “military measures” to support its forces and “protect civilians,” according to the official Saba news agency.

A television channel close to the STC — a movement backed by the United Arab Emirates — reported on Friday that Saudi strikes had hit separatist positions in Hadramout. Riyadh had not commented at that time. The STC later told AFP that two Saudi strikes had taken place in the region, though no casualties were reported. The group warned that the attacks “would not prevent the people of the South from continuing their efforts to restore their rights.”

Although the STC is formally part of the government coalition, it said in the same statement that it remained “open to any arrangement” with Riyadh that “guarantees the security, unity, and integrity of the South.”

Calls for restraint

“They crossed the red line. Insulting Saudi Arabia is bad — but doing so publicly is even worse. And that is exactly what they did,” said Farea al-Muslimi, an analyst at Chatham House in London, speaking to AFP.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday called for “restraint,” while avoiding taking sides between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both key U.S. partners.

On Thursday, following clashes between separatists and a tribal leader allied with Saudi Arabia, Riyadh condemned the “unilateral” seizure of territory, described the move as “an unjustified escalation,” and called for the “urgent withdrawal” of STC forces from Mahra and Hadramout.

According to a source close to the separatists, the STC in early December rejected a withdrawal request from both the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

In another sign of rising tensions, more than 15,000 Yemeni fighters backed by Saudi Arabia are now massed in strategic areas along the Saudi-Yemeni border, a Yemeni military official said. The official added that while negotiations continue, the fighters have “received no military orders to advance,” though Riyadh could consider military action if talks fail.

A conflict at risk of widening

These latest developments risk further destabilizing Yemen — the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula — already at the center of regional rivalries. Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a devastating conflict opposing Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government, which itself consists of competing factions. Although a ceasefire since 2022 has helped ease fighting, the Saudi-led military intervention launched in 2015 deepened the conflict, leaving the country divided, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, and triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.