Southern Yemen separatists seize presidential palace, tearing coalition apart and sparking fears of new war

Government official claims ‘it’s all over’ as serious fractures within the Saudi-led coalition threaten fresh conflict

An armed member of a separatist southern group celebrates after seizing a military base during clashes with government forces in Aden, Yemen (EPA)

Yemen’s southern separatists have seized control of the port city of Aden after storming the presidential palace, the seat of the internationally-recognised government, ripping apart a Gulf coalition fighting rebels in the north and sparking fears of a new war.

Yemeni officials confirmed that the Southern Transitional Council, which was once part of a Gulf-backed coalition fighting the Houthi rebels, had taken all of the government military camps in the strategic city. A separatist commander later claimed they also seized the presidential palace.

The country’s recognised foreign ministry called the action a “coup” while an official within the government told Reuters “it’s all over”.

Senior tribal leaders in the southeast of the country confirmed earlier on Saturday that the separatists had seized the temporary government headquarters and expressed “serious concerns”, believing the move would lead to a second civil war.

Fierce clashes between southern separatist forces and forces loyal to recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi first erupted on Wednesday. Just days before, leading members of the STC had threatened war was on the horizon in an interview with The Independent in Abu Dhabi.

“What is happening in the temporary (government) capital of Aden by the Southern Transitional Council is a coup against institutions of the internationally recognised government,” Yemen’s recognised foreign ministry said on Twitter.

“It is all over, the (Southern Transitional Council) forces are in control of all the military camps,” an official in Mr Hadi’s government added.

Government officials also said separatists took over the house of interior minister Ahmed al-Mayssari after he was evacuated by coalition forces.

A spokesman from the separatist-dominated Security Belt force told Agence-France Presse they had taken the largely-empty Maashiq palace “from presidential (guard) forces without a fight” .

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the presidential guard had handed over the palace.

At least 70 people, including civilians, have been killed in four days of fighting which erupted on Wednesday between separatists and government loyalists in Aden.

The separatists had accused an Islamist party allied to Mr Hadi of complicity in a missile attack on a southern forces military parade in Aden, which killed their most senior commander Monir Mahmoud al Yafi. The attack had been initially claimed by the Houthis.

Yemen has already been ripped apart by an entirely separate five-year war, which was triggered by the seizure of the country by Iran-backed Houthis who ousted Mr Hadi in 2015.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies including the UAE launched a bombing campaign the same year to try to reinstate the president.

Armed members of a separatist southern group hold up a separatist flag (EPA)

However, the conflict with the Houthis, which has left nearly 13 million on the brink of famine, has reached a stalemate over the last few months.

Serious fractures within the Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, have threatened to spill into fresh conflict.

Thousands of southern fighters have received training and arms from the UAE as part of the effort to combat the Iran-backed Houthis. Many of the STC’s leaders reside in Abu Dhabi.

However, the STC and its affiliated forces see a different future for Yemen than the Yemeni government, believing in a return to an independent south, rather than a single Yemen which was first unified in 1990.

Relations between the UAE and Mr Hadi have significantly deteriorated, with many officials in Abu Dhabi believing he should step aside.

Mr Hadi, who has been largely based in Riyadh since being ousted from power by the Houthis, is seen to be more allied to Saudi Arabia.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition. The UAE had earlier called for calm and a renewed focus on opposing the Houthis.

Foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed urged UN special envoy Martin Griffiths, who is trying to de-escalate tensions across Yemen, “to deploy efforts and exert pressure” to that purpose.

The seizure of Aden appeared planned. Leading STC figures in interviews last week with The Independent had warned that a unified Yemen was “impossible” and they would take military action soon.

“Everyone thinks the current war now is between the Houthis and Yemen government but the real war, which is starting right now, is between the north and the south,“ Naser Al Khubaji, chairman of the negotiation unit of the South Transitional Council, said from Abu Dhabi.

“There will be huge step – a military and political one – taken by the Southern Transitional Council, which may be in coordination with the UAE,” he continued.

“Today we have the tools to be able to declare a state in the south,” he added.

A figure close to STC’s leader Aidarous Zubaidi added: “A united Yemen is an impossible scenario and everyone realises that now.”

The Houthi’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday that the events in Aden proved Mr Hadi’s government was not fit to rule.

“It is time for the main powers on the ground to hold serious and constructive talks to take Yemen towards a federation that appeases all sides under a united national framework,” Hussein al-Azzi tweeted.

The UN is trying to implement a stalled peace deal in the main port city of Hodeidah, further to the north.