SANAA, Yemen — Thousands of supporters of Yemen’s secessionists have rallied in the southern city of Aden, backing a new group that advocates for autonomy of the country’s south.

The group is led by the city’s former governor, Aidarous al-Zubaidi. He addressed his supporters on Friday from behind a large bullet-proof glass box, accusing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government of failure.

Al-Zubaidi says he will not “remain silent” but can shoulder responsibility in securing and running the south.

A counter-rally in support of Hadi was held in the Khor Maksar district, underscoring Yemen’s growing divisions since the outbreak of the civil war in 2015.

Yemen is facing multiple challenges, including the war with Shiite Houthi rebels who control the country’s north and a strong al-Qaida presence. </s> Thousands of Yemenis demanding southern secession rallied in the streets of Aden on Friday, waving the flag of the formerly independent south in their third protest since May.

Protesters marched through central Aden, Yemen's second city and home to the war-ravaged country's government.

They chanted their support for the South Transitional Council and demanded the independence of south Yemen, which was an independent state until 1990 when it was unified with North Yemen.

The South Transition Council, an autonomous body aimed at overseeing self-governance among southern provinces, was declared in May and is not recognised by the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

The 26-member council includes the governors of five southern provinces and two cabinet ministers.

Aden serves as a temporary base for the Hadi government as the capital Sanaa has been held by Huthi rebels since September 2014.

Hadi is himself based in Riyadh, having fled Aden in March 2015 as the Shiite rebels closed in on his refuge.

More than 8,000 people have been killed in the past two years and tens of thousands wounded in the war in Yemen, according to the World Health Organization. </s> Fighters from the separatist Southern Transitional Council and their supporters parade around the area of the presidential palace in the government’s de facto capital Aden, moving closer to taking full control of the southern city, on Tuesday (AFP photo)

ADEN — Separatists in war-ravaged Yemen have surrounded the presidential palace in the government’s de facto capital Aden, moving closer on Tuesday to taking full control of the southern city.

The government has accused the separatists of attempting a coup in Aden, where more than 36 people have been killed in clashes that opened yet another front in the country’s devastating conflict.

The southern port city has served as the government’s base since 2014 after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels — who hail from northern Yemen — took control of the capital Sanaa in their fight against the state.

While President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi now resides in Riyadh, two military officials said Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Dagher and a number of senior government figures were holed up in the Aden presidential palace.

“The separatists have surrounded the palace and now control the main gate. Those inside are unofficially under house arrest at this point,” said a high-ranking officer with the Yemeni army.

For three years, Hadi’s Saudi-backed administration was allied with the separatists, driving the Houthi rebels out of the south and back into their strongholds in the north.

But tension between the allies began to surface in April when Hadi dismissed a Cabinet minister and the Aden governor in a move that was widely seen as reflecting divisions among his supporters.

Tensions boiled over into armed clashes between the separatists and pro-government forces on Sunday, fuelling chaos in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country where a civil war has already left thousands dead and millions on the brink of starvation.

Under the self-proclaimed Southern Transitional Council (STC), the separatists have gained traction since April in their push for self-rule, demanding the reinstatement of South Yemen as an independent entity.

The STC this month called on Hadi to make changes in his government, accusing him of corruption and mismanagement.

The clashes have sparked fears of a repeat of the 1986 South Yemen civil war, a failed socialist coup which killed thousands in just six days and helped pave the way for the 1991 unification of South and North Yemen.

The separatists, who enjoy popular support and are backed by some military troops, have rapidly gained control over all but one district in Aden since Sunday.

More than 36 people have been killed and 186 wounded in Aden in two days, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Brigadier Saleh Al-Sayyed, who heads troops that have fought alongside the separatists since Sunday, announced his forces had seized control of the Fourth Brigade, the presidential guard in Aden.

Yemen’s president has urged Saudi Arabia and its allies to intervene in the government’s defence.

The coalition said it would take “all necessary steps to restore security” but has not announced any new operation to help the government in Aden since Sunday.

More than 9,200 Yemenis have been killed since the coalition intervened in the war in 2015, triggering what the UN has called the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.

Nearly 2,200 more have died of cholera amid deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions, the World Health Organisation says.

The United Arab Emirates is a key member of the military alliance, but also has close ties to one of the leaders of the STC — Hani bin Breik, the cabinet minister sacked by Hadi in April.

The UAE has trained a special operations force in the Yemeni army, dubbed the “security belt”, stationed in southern Yemen.

The force supports the STC. Some troops in the Yemeni army are also loyal to the separatists.

Both the coalition and the Hadi government have called for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen, and the interior ministry has publicly called on state troops to stop fighting.

The coalition on Monday called on the separatists to exercise restraint while urging the Yemeni government to “take into consideration the demands of the social and political movement” in the south. </s> The ongoing Yemeni civil war and staggering famine has further intensified the conflict between the southern and northern parts of the country. In 1990, the once independent state of South Yemen (1967-1990) was unified with North Yemen under the leadership of the North's leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Four years later, the South accused North of economic marginalization, corruption and abuses of power, and a civil war broke out between April 27 and July 7, leaving between 7,000 and 10,000 people dead. Although southern leaders sought to regain sovereignty, the government quashed the separatist movement.

In May 2007 in South Yemen, retirees who had not received pensions for years took to the streets to protest economic and political inequality. The movement gained momentum and evolved into open calls for sovereignty of the region. The authorities branded the demonstrators as “apostates of the state” and reportedly fired on them.

The Southern Movement formed in response to the purported shootings, embracing a diverse mosaic of groups sticking to the idea of splitting from the North. Herak separatists are the spearhead of the movement.

Southern separatists initially backed internationally-recognized Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled from advancing Houthi rebels to his hometown of Aden, and alongside the Saudi-led coalition helped push the Houthis away from southern regions. However, the economic and political issues remained a point of contention.

On April 4, 2017, the Southern Movement established the Southern Transitional Council (STC) – a 26-member secessionist body. Its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the head of the Aden Governorate, was dismissed by Hadi for “disloyalty” at the time. The separatists control the area of Aden and are reportedly supported by the United Arab Emirates.

'Great Surprise': General Says Turning Point in Yemen Conflict is Close at Hand Fresh Developments

On January 22, 2018, al-Zubaidi accused the Hadi government of “rampant corruption,” and declared a state of emergency in Aden, where the authorities are located. The STC said the president had a week to make his choice.

Hadi, in turn, rejected the ultimatum and banned public gatherings before January 28 – subsequently, clashes erupted. The president has called on the Saudi-led coalition to help and currently facing two fronts – one against the Houthis and a second against the separatists. </s> At least four people have been killed in raging battles between government forces and secessionist fighters in Yemen's southern port city of Aden.

Yemen's Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher accused southern separatists of attempting a coup after fighting erupted. The two sides in Aden are supported by countries within the Saudi-led coalition that are fighting the Houthi rebels.

Fighting has also intensified in the city of Taiz in central Yemen, prompting international aid organisations such as OXFAM to close down their offices. </s> ADEN (Reuters) - Southern Yemeni separatists took control of the port city of Aden after two days of fighting, residents said on Tuesday, confining the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to the presidential palace.

Fighting between southern separatists, backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), against forces loyal to Saudi-based president Hadi, risk crippling their once united campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen’s north.

The UAE is a major component of a Saudi-led military coalition of Arab states that has supported Hadi’s government since the Houthis seized much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, three years ago. Hadi’s government operates out of Aden, while he lives in Saudi Arabia.

Residents said forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), formed last year to push for the revival of the former independent state of South Yemen, seized the last stronghold of Hadi’s Presidential Protection Forces in the Dar Saad area of northern Aden, in battles that at times involved heavy artillery and tank fire.

Activists shared photos on social media of the flag of the former independent Southern Yemen state flying over the base’s gate. Southern Yemen was united with Northern Yemen in 1990.

Aden residents said STC fighters had earlier overrun Presidential Protection forces outposts in central Aden’s Crater and Tawahi districts.

They stopped outside the al-Maasheeq palace, where Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr’s cabinet is based, they said.

Witnesses said hundreds of people danced and sang as they celebrated the STC victory with fireworks that lit the night skies over Aden. The crowd chanted slogans demanding restoration of the southern state.

Mosques also mixed their calls for prayers with victory claims in Crater, residents said.

Smoke billows from a car parts store hit by shells during the conflict in the port city of Aden, Yemen January 31, 2018. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

“ALL MEASURES”

The government-run Saba news agency put the death toll in two days of fighting at 16 and the number of wounded at 141. An official at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said at least 36 were killed and 185 were wounded.

The fighting began on Sunday after a deadline set last week by the STC for Hadi to dismiss bin Daghr’s government, which the STC accused of corruption and mismanagement. The government denies the allegation.

Sources at the STC said negotiations were underway to allow bin Daghr’s government to leave the city safely, but a government source said bin Daghr had no intention of leaving Aden.

STC head Aydaroos al-Zubaydi, in his first public comments since the fighting began, said the separatists were still committed to the coalition’s goals of driving the Houthis out of Sanaa, but he declined to say whether he intended to set up a separate administration in Aden.

“We have tasks alongside the Arab coalition and its Decisive Storm (operation). But the people of the South have the right to their own state when the international community is ready for that,” Zubaydi said in an interview with the Arabic channel of France 24 TV.

The Saudi-led coalition, which intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 to restore Hadi’s government after the Houthis forced him into exile, called in a statement on Tuesday on both parties to cease hostilities.

“The coalition will take all the measures it deems necessary to restore stability and security in Aden,” it said.

Although Hadi remains in exile in Saudi Arabia, his administration and local allies nominally control about four-fifths of Yemen’s territory, although most population centers are in the hands of the Houthis.

Slideshow (5 Images)

The factional fighting in the south compounds the misery of Yemenis whose country has been torn apart by three years of conflict between Hadi’s forces and the Houthis, which has also opened the way for Islamist militants to widen their influence.

In the southern Shabwa province, at least 12 soldiers from another local forces trained and backed by the UAE were killed in a bomb and gun attack on their outpost, residents and officials said.

While no one claimed responsibility for the attack, it mirrored previous operations by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). </s> Separatists in southern Yemen, who are backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have dispatched sizable reinforcements to the city of Aden, where they have been engaged in fierce clashes with Saudi-allied militants loyal to the former Yemeni government.

Reports on Monday said the so-called Southern Transitional Council had sent a large number of armed members from Dhale and Shabwah Provinces, respectively in southwestern and south-central Yemen, to Aden.

The fresh outburst began on Sunday after the separatists managed to take control of a number of sites and military camps run by the former Yemeni administration following intense clashes with Saudi mercenaries.

At least 15 people, including civilians, were killed and over 130 more injured in Sunday's violence.

The International Committee of the Red Cross reported overnight clashes in Aden.

The UAE has played a key role in the Saudi military campaign, which was launched in March 2015 with the aim of reinstalling the government of former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement that currently runs Yemen’s state affairs.

Prior to the offensive, Hadi had resigned and fled to Riyadh. The Saudi regime and its allies later managed to seize Aden from the Houthis and put it under the control of the ex-president’s officials.

Numerous Arab-language outlets have verified the collision between Saudi and Emirati interests there. Neither Abu Dhabi nor Riyadh has, however, attested to any division within the Saudi-led coalition.

The latest wave of violence broke out a week after Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of the separatist council, said in a statement that the self-proclaimed Yemeni parliament would be barred from convening in the city of Aden unless Hadi removes his “prime minister” and his entire “cabinet.”

The statement declared “a state of emergency in Aden” and said “it has begun the process of overthrowing” Hadi’s “government.”

The separatists have long demanded independence for Yemen’s south, which used to be independent -- with former British colony Aden as its capital -- from its formation in 1967 until 1990, when it was unified with the north.

Last year, it was revealed that the UAE clandestinely supports the secessionists against the Saudi-armed forces loyal to Hadi.

Given its economic importance, Aden’s control would lend considerable leverage to any side exercising ultimate control over the port. </s> DUBAI (Reuters) - The Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused southern separatists of staging a coup in Aden after their fighters took over all military camps in the southern port city, seat of the internationally recognized government, on Saturday.

“What is happening in the temporary (government) capital of Aden by the Southern Transitional Council is a coup against institutions of the internationally recognized government,” the foreign ministry said in a Twitter post. </s> Supporters of southern Yemeni separatists take part in an anti-government protest in Aden, Yemen, on Sunday (Reuters photo)

ADEN, Yemen — Four people were killed on Monday in a second day of fighting between rival factions seeking control of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, where the internationally recognised administration is based, witnesses and officials said.

The clashes between southern separatists allied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and forces loyal to Saudi-based President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi risk crippling their once united campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

Witnesses reported fighting outside Yemeni government camps in the districts of Khor Maksar and Dar Saad in the north of Aden. The clashes involved tanks and heavy artillery targeting a hill, Jabal Hadeed, which overlooks Khor Maksar and Aden port.

The SABA state news agency, controlled by the Hadi government, said four people had died in Monday's fighting, bringing the total death toll since Sunday to 16 and the number of wounded to 141.

President Hadi issued a statement ordering the military to secure the city and assuring the population that his government was capable of handling the situation.

The witnesses said forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which was formed last year to push for the revival of the former independent state of South Yemen, were apparently trying to wrest control of two bases in Aden from Prime Minister Ahmed Bin Daghr’s government.

In downtown Aden, most people stayed off the streets as government forces guarded the main road to Al Maasheeq palace where the government is based.

Aden airport was closed for a second consecutive day because of the fighting, local officials said.

A government source said the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen in support of the Hadi administration should rein in the STC separatists or else the battle against the Houthis would suffer.

“The military commanders leading the battle in the western part of Yemen [against the Houthis] have given short notice to the Saudis and the UAE to intervene to end the fighting in Aden. Otherwise they will leave the battlefront and move back to Aden to assist President Hadi and the government,” the source said.

Sunday’s fighting broke out after the expiry of a deadline set last week by separatists from the STC for Hadi to dismiss the Bin Daghr government, accusing it of corruption and mismanagement. The government denies the charges.

Bin Daghr has described the ultimatum as a coup against the internationally-recognised government, which the STC has accused of attacking civilians who had converged on the city’s Parades Square from across southern Yemen for a rally.

The clashes in Aden have effectively divided the city into two zones, one controlled by the STC and one by the government.

Although Hadi remains in exile in Saudi Arabia, his administration and local allies nominally control about four-fifths of Yemen’s territory.

The factional fighting in the south compounds the misery of Yemenis whose country has been torn apart by three years of conflict between Hadi’s forces and the Houthis.
Thousands of supporters of Yemen's secessionists rally in the southern city of Aden, backing a new group led by former head of Aden Governorate Aidarus al-Zoubaidi that advocates for autonomy of the country's south.