Joint Forces Coalition: UAE Ally Escaped from Southern Yemen
The head of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), an ally of the UAE, Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi, has fled southern Yemen under cover of darkness.
Pro-government “Homeland Shield” forces take control of the city after seizing it from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in Seiyun, governorate of Hadhramaut, Yemen, on January 05, 2026. Photo by Anadolu Images.
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he head of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), an ally of the UAE, Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi, has fled southern Yemen under cover of darkness, according to a statement released Thursday by the Saudi-led Joint Forces Coalition.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki said Al-Zoubaidi and several associates “escaped in the dead of night” aboard a vessel that departed from the port of Aden heading toward Somaliland.
According to the statement, the group boarded the vessel BAMEDHAF after disabling its maritime identification systems. The ship later docked at the port of Berbera.
Al-Malki said Al-Zoubaidi contacted Maj. Gen. Awad Saeed bin Musleh Al-Hababi, commander of joint operations of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, to inform him of his arrival.
Following this communication, Al-Zoubaidi and his companions boarded an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft, flight MZB-9102, which departed without declaring its destination.
The aircraft landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 3:15 p.m. local time (1215 GMT), remained on the ground for approximately one hour, and departed again at 4:17 p.m. (1317 GMT) toward the Arabian Gulf.
Identification systems disabled mid-flight
The coalition said the aircraft switched off its identification systems while flying over the Gulf of Oman, reactivating them shortly before landing at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi at 8:47 p.m. (1747 GMT).
Maritime records indicate that the BAMEDHAF is registered under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis—the same flag used by the vessel GREENLAND, which previously transported military vehicles and weapons from Fujairah to the port of Mukalla, the statement said.
The disclosure comes amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over southern Yemen. Riyadh has previously accused Abu Dhabi of encouraging STC forces to conduct military operations along Saudi Arabia’s southern border in Hadhramaut and Mahra provinces—an allegation denied by the UAE.
STC pushes for transitional phase
On Friday, Al-Zoubaidi announced a two-year “transitional phase” that would include dialogue with political actors in southern Yemen and a referendum on the future of the region.
The STC argues that successive Yemeni governments have politically and economically marginalized the south and has renewed calls for secession. Yemen’s internationally recognized government rejects these claims and maintains its commitment to the country’s unity.
The episode has deepened a growing rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the two most powerful members of the Gulf coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Al-Zoubaidi had failed to appear in Riyadh for crisis talks on Wednesday amid escalating turmoil in southern Yemen, and Saudi claims that the UAE assisted his escape have raised the stakes in a crisis that erupted last month when STC forces swept through southern areas and reached the Saudi border, fracturing the coalition as it continues to battle Iran-backed Houthi forces.
(Source: Anadolu and Reuters)
