The United Arab Emirates has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Yemen, declaring an end to what it called \u201ccounterterrorism\u201d operations there, after Saudi Arabia accused Abu Dhabi of supporting separatists in Yemen.<\/p>\n
The announcement on Tuesday came after Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government demanded the UAE pull its forces from the country within 24 hours, a call backed by Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Hours earlier, Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces also attacked the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla, targeting what Riyadh said was a UAE-linked weapons shipment destined for the separatist Southern Transition Council (STC) in Yemen.<\/p>\n The STC, which initially supported Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels, launched an offensive against the Saudi Arabia-backed government troops this month, seeking an independent state in the south.<\/p>\n The advance broke years of deadlock, with the STC \u200cseizing control of broad swaths of southern Yemen, including the Hadramout and Mahara provinces, in defiance of warnings from Riyadh. Hadramout borders Saudi Arabia, and Mahara is close to the border.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it was disappointed about \u201cpressure exerted by the UAE\u201d on the STC to conduct military operations in the Hadramout and Mahara provinces. Riyadh said it considered the moves a threat to its national security.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this context, the kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralise any such threat,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Following Tuesday\u2019s rapid-fire events, the UAE\u2019s Ministry of Defence said it carried out a \u201ccomprehensive assessment\u201d of its role in Yemen and decided to end its mission there.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of recent developments and their potential implications for the safety and effectiveness of counterterrorism missions, the Ministry of Defence announces the termination of the remaining counterterrorism personnel in Yemen of its own volition, in a manner that ensures the safety of its personnel,\u201d the UAE statement said.<\/p>\n The UAE announcement came amid efforts to tamp down tensions that have erupted in recent days.<\/p>\n Qatar\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it welcomed the Saudi Arabian and UAE statements, which it said reflected a \u201ccommitment to prioritising the interests of the region, strengthening the principles of good neighbourliness, and adhering to the foundations and principles upon which the GCC Charter is based.\u201d<\/p>\n The Gulf Cooperation Council consists of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the UAE.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud held telephone conversations with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, discussing \u201cregional developments\u201d.<\/p>\n The Saudi Arabia-led coalition\u2019s strike on Yemen\u2019s Mukalla revealed widening tensions within a coalition built in 2015 to combat the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen.<\/p>\n Emirati troops first arrived in Yemen as part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition that year, but the UAE pulled most of its forces out in 2019, leaving only a limited number in the government-run south.<\/p>\n Following the Mukalla strike, which did not cause casualties, Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen\u2019s Saudi Arabia-backed presidential council, dissolved a defence pact with the UAE and gave Emirati forces 24 hours to leave.<\/p>\n In a televised speech, al-Alimi said it had been \u201cdefinitively confirmed \u200cthat the UAE pressured and directed the STC to undermine and rebel against the authority of the state through military escalation\u201d, according to the Yemeni state news agency.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia backed al-Alimi\u2019s call for the UAE to withdraw its forces from Yemeni territory, and asked that it halt \u201cany military or financial support to any party\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n The UAE said it had been surprised by the Saudi Arabian air strike, and that the shipments in question did not contain weapons and were destined for the Emirati forces, rather than the STC.<\/p>\n It also said that it was committed to ensuring the security of Saudi Arabia and that it was seeking a solution \u201cthat prevents escalation, based on reliable facts and existing coordination\u201d.<\/p>\n Yemeni state television showed what it said was black smoke rising from the port in the early morning, with burned vehicles. Al-Alimi declared a no-fly zone, and a sea and ground blockade on all ports and crossings for 72 hours.<\/p>\n However, the STC remained defiant, insisting there was \u201cno thinking about withdrawal\u201d from its newly seized positions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is unreasonable for the landowner to be asked to leave his own land. The situation requires staying and reinforcing,\u201d STC spokesman Anwar al-Tamimi told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in a defensive position, and any movement toward our forces will be responded to by our forces,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The United Arab Emirates has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Yemen, declaring an end to what it called \u201ccounterterrorism\u201d operations there, after Saudi Arabia accused Abu Dhabi of supporting separatists in Yemen. The announcement on Tuesday came after Yemen\u2019s internationally recognised government demanded the UAE pull its forces from the country within 24 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Tensions over the STC<\/h2>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE_YEMEN_CONTROL_MAP_DECEMBER](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/INTERACTIVE_YEMEN_CONTROL_MAP_DECEMBER-9_2025-1765288083.png?quality=80\")
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