Power Struggle Deepens in Southern Yemen as Anti-Houthi Council Moves Against Separatist Leader

BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA

Yemen’s already fractured political landscape grew more volatile on Wednesday after an anti-Houthi governing council announced it had expelled the head of a powerful southern separatist movement and accused him of treason, escalating tensions among factions nominally aligned against the country’s Houthi rebels.

The move targets Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of the Southern Transitional Council, a group that has long pushed for autonomy or independence for southern Yemen and has been backed in recent years by the United Arab Emirates. According to a statement distributed by the SABA news agency, which is aligned with anti-Houthi authorities, al-Zubaidi was removed from the Presidential Leadership Council after he reportedly declined to travel to Saudi Arabia for talks aimed at defusing the growing crisis.

The decision underscores the deepening rift between Saudi-backed elements of Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the STC, further complicating efforts to stabilize the Arab world’s poorest country after more than a decade of war. While the various factions are united in their opposition to the Iranian-aligned Houthis, their competing ambitions, foreign backers and territorial interests have increasingly come to the surface.

The STC rejected the accusations and said al-Zubaidi remained in the southern port city of Aden, the group’s main stronghold. It also accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes in the southern al-Dhale governorate, alleging the attacks caused casualties, though independent confirmation was not immediately available.

“While a senior STC delegation is in Saudi Arabia pursuing negotiations, the president remains in Aden to ensure security and stability,” Amr al-Bidh, an STC official responsible for foreign affairs, wrote in a public statement. “He will not abandon his people, and he will engage directly when conditions allow.”

In contrast, the SABA statement accused al-Zubaidi of undermining Yemen’s “military, political and economic standing,” forming armed groups outside state authority and being responsible for the killing of officers and soldiers loyal to the recognized government. The language reflects how far relations have deteriorated between former allies within the anti-Houthi camp.

The Presidential Leadership Council, which announced the expulsion, was formed in April 2022 after President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi transferred his powers and stepped aside. The body was intended to unify anti-Houthi forces and present a coherent political front. Instead, it has been marked by internal rivalries, as its members represent factions with divergent goals and external sponsors.

Despite years of conflict, the council’s forces have largely refrained from launching a decisive ground offensive against the Houthis, even as the rebels came under intense air campaigns by the United States and Israel. An uneasy ceasefire on the ground in Yemen has largely held, but it has done little to resolve the country’s underlying political fractures.

Tensions with the STC intensified in late December after separatist forces made advances in the eastern governorates of Hadramout and Mahra, areas previously under the influence of Saudi-backed factions. Those moves were seen as a direct challenge to Riyadh’s role in southern Yemen.

Earlier on Wednesday, Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said al-Zubaidi had been scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia alongside other council officials but failed to board the plane. He claimed intelligence reports indicated that al-Zubaidi had mobilized a large force, including armored vehicles, heavy and light weapons, and ammunition, before disappearing from public view.

Saudi Arabia has since carried out airstrikes on STC positions and targeted what it said was a shipment of weapons supplied by the UAE. Under mounting pressure and following an ultimatum from anti-Houthi authorities, the UAE announced over the weekend that it had withdrawn its forces from Yemen, a move that highlighted growing strains between the two Gulf neighbors.

Those strains reflect broader competition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over economic influence and regional strategy, even as both countries publicly maintain that their primary objective in Yemen remains countering the Houthis. The rebels have controlled the capital, Sanaa, since 2014 and remain entrenched across much of northern Yemen.

The conflict has devastated the country, killing more than 150,000 people, including civilians and combatants, and plunging millions into humanitarian crisis. Yemen’s strategic location along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has added global significance to the war.

In recent months, the Houthis have expanded their reach by attacking hundreds of commercial vessels in the Red Sea corridor, citing the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Those attacks have disrupted international shipping and prompted military responses from the United States, which has carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets under both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

As rivalries within the anti-Houthi camp intensify, analysts warn that Yemen’s path toward stability is becoming even more uncertain, with internal power struggles threatening to overshadow efforts to end one of the Middle East’s most destructive conflicts.