Riyadh: After carrying out an airstrike on a Yemeni port, the Saudi Arabian government has now launched a direct verbal attack on the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has given the UAE only 24 hours to withdraw its troops from Yemen. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning the UAE that their country would not hesitate to eliminate any threat to its national security. Saudi Arabia has directly linked the advancement of STC rebels in Yemen to the UAE and called this move "very dangerous." Earlier, the Saudi Arabian Air Force attacked Mukalla port in Yemen. Saudi Arabia claims that the UAE had sent weapons for the STC through this port.
Saudi Arabia said that national security is a red line for them and they will defend it. Saudi Arabia said that it has conducted a limited military operation. Meanwhile, Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Saudi-backed Presidential Council in Yemen, said that he has asked all UAE troops to leave Yemeni territory within the next 24 hours. In a televised speech, he highly praised the support of Saudi Arabia and the coalition forces. The Yemeni leader has also canceled the defense deal with the UAE. Following Saudi Arabian airstrikes targeting a shipment of weapons sent by the United Arab Emirates to separatists in Yemen, anti-Houthi forces in Yemen declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia Bombs UAE-Backed Forces
These forces announced the closure of all border crossings in the areas under their control for 72 hours. They also imposed restrictions on entry to airports and seaports, with the exception of those authorized by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that it had bombed the Yemeni port city of Mukalla, targeting a shipment of weapons from the UAE intended for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist organization supported by the UAE. The UAE has not yet commented on the matter.
Earlier, separatists in southern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Friday of carrying out airstrikes against their forces. However, Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm the accusation. This accusation comes at a time when Saudi Arabia had recently warned of withdrawing its forces from some provinces recently seized by the separatists. The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council said the attacks took place in Yemen's Hadhramaut region.
Threat Looms Over Saudi-Led Coalition
There was no immediate information on casualties from these attacks. However, the attacks have further escalated tensions in the already war-torn country and also threaten the fragile Saudi-led coalition, which has been fighting against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country for the past decade. Amr al-Bidh, the council's special representative for foreign affairs, told the Associated Press that his fighters were active in the eastern Hadhramaut region on Friday, where they faced several ambush attacks by gunmen. He said that two of the council's fighters were killed and 12 were wounded in these attacks.
