The forum, which comes after government forces retook two governorates, could help end the conflict with separatists.
Yemeni government troops backed by Saudi Arabia have completed the handover of all military sites in Hadramout and al-Mahra governorates, which they successfully reclaimed from the United Arab Emirates-backed secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) in recent days, according to Yemeni media.
A delegation led by STC leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, was meanwhile expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for a peace forum, the Reuters news agency reported – a potential sign of progress towards ending the conflict that has rocked war-torn Yemen and spiked tensions between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
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Over the last two days, STC troops have withdrawn from the city of Mukalla, the key eastern port and capital of Hadramout, which Saudi Arabia bombed last week in a limited coalition operation targeting cargo and weapons.
Civilian life has started to return to normal, local sources told media Arabic. Shops have opened their doors, while traffic has gradually picked up again in city streets.
The fractured country has seen soaring tensions since early December, when STC forces took over Hadramout and al-Mahra. The two provinces make up nearly half of Yemen’s territory and share a border with Saudi Arabia.
Last week’s new round of fighting saw Yemen’s Saudi-backed Homeland Shield forces achieve “record success” in clawing back “all military and security positions”, said Rashad al-Alimi, head of the internationally recognised government’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
By Friday, the Yemeni government said it had asked Saudi Arabia to host talks with separatists. The STC welcomed the offer, though the timing and details of the talks remain unclear.
Renewed tensions
At least 80 STC fighters had been killed as of Sunday, according to an STC official, while another 152 were wounded and 130 were taken captive.
Skirmishes broke out two days earlier in Hadramout after the STC accused Saudi Arabia of bombing its forces near the border, killing seven people and wounding 20.
An STC military official separately told the AFP news agency that Saudi warplanes had carried out “intense” air raids on one of the group’s camps at Barshid, west of Mukalla.
As fighting was under way, the STC announced the start of a two-year transitional period towards declaring an independent state, warning it would declare independence “immediately” if there was no dialogue or if southern Yemen again came under attack.
The Yemeni government defended the military actions, with Hadramout Governor Salem al-Khanbashi saying efforts to take back bases from the STC were “not a declaration of war” but meant to “peacefully and systematically” reclaim the sites.
The government also accused the separatists of preventing civilian travellers from entering Aden and called the STC’s restrictions on movement “a grave violation of the constitution and a breach of the Riyadh Agreement”, which was intended as a peace deal between separatists and the government.
Outside Yemen, the crisis has continued to upset relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and the STC are part of a decade-old military coalition that Riyadh convened to confront the Houthis, who continue to control parts of northern Yemen and Sanaa, the capital.
But the STC’s increasingly separatist approach – along with tit-for-tat accusations of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi-backed escalations – have stoked tensions among the trio.
Late on Friday, Abu Dhabi said all Emirati forces would withdraw from Yemen. Riyadh officially called for a peace forum early Saturday.
