AL MUKALLA, Yemen: The UAE mentioned Tuesday (Dec 30) it was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen, following a Saudi demand to withdraw inside 24 hours as tensions escalate over a sweeping offensive by Abu Dhabi-backed separatists.
The United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry mentioned it was withdrawing “counter-terrorism groups … of its personal volition”. Abu Dhabi had denied being behind the separatists’ advance.
Yemen’s presidential council and Saudi Arabia, the UAE’s rival powerbroker within the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest nation, have each demanded Emirati troops pull out.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio additionally spoke together with his Saudi and UAE counterparts, that are each key US companions, his division mentioned.
Rubio and UAE international minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan mentioned “the scenario in Yemen and broader points affecting Center Japanese safety and stability”, mentioned Tommy Pigott, a State Division spokesman.
Earlier than daybreak, the Saudi-led coalition combating Yemen’s Houthi rebels had struck an Emirati cargo at Mukalla port, saying it was carrying weapons for the separatists, a declare the UAE denied.
AFP footage of the port confirmed dozens of parked navy autos and pick-ups, a number of of which had been burnt out and smouldering as employees hosed them down.
Tuesday’s rapid-fire occasions come after forces from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) marched throughout resource-rich Hadramawt and Mahra provinces this month, bringing contemporary upheaval after a decade-long civil struggle.
The advance has raised the spectre of the return of South Yemen, a separate state from 1967 to 1990, whereas dealing a hammer-blow to slow-moving peace negotiations with Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Emirati troops arrived in Yemen as a part of the Saudi-led coalition combating the Houthis, who had pressured the federal government from the capital Sanaa in 2014 and seized a lot of the nation.
The UAE pulled out most of its forces in 2019, leaving solely a restricted quantity within the government-run south the place a patchwork of militias maintain sway.
