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Arabia

Royal Saudi Air Force carried out airstrikes near Al Ghaydah, the capital of Al Mahrah governorate in eastern Yemen

2026-01-05

The Royal Saudi Air Force 🇸🇦 carried out airstrikes near Al Ghaydah, the capital of Al Mahrah governorate in eastern Yemen 🇾🇪, after some UAE-backed 🇦🇪 STC forces refused to hand over their weapons or withdraw from the city. The strikes were intended as a warning ⚠️. https://t.co/YzZ075NV7A pic.twitter.com/j4ZOpoJQA9
— Rich Tedd 🛰 ✈️ (@AfriMEOSINT) January 4, 2026

#CHO #Yemen | Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition @modgovksa carried out airstrikes near the eastern axis of Al-Ghaydah. The area is currently hosting pro–Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces operating under the Al-Ghaydah Axis command, led by Major General Mohsen… https://t.co/jzIxFxcNK1 pic.twitter.com/30vdpcxQZo
— Basha باشا (@BashaReport) January 4, 2026

Text:

#CHO #Yemen | Earlier today, the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes near the eastern axis of Al-Ghaydah. The area is currently hosting pro–Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces operating under the Al-Ghaydah Axis command, led by Major General Mohsen Marassa, alongside Brigadier Sayyaf al-Maka’ar, commander of the Sixth Support and Reinforcement Brigade, both aligned with the STC South Arabia.

Initial reports described the airstrikes as warning strikes intended to pressure STC forces to withdraw, particularly as the Third Division of the National Shield Forces, led by Sheikh Abdullah bin Sadiq al-Ja‘di al-Mahri, together with elements of the NSF Fifth and Sixth Brigades based in Qishn, has been coordinating a safe exit for STC forces from Al-Mahrah, allowing personnel to depart with personal weapons and civilian vehicles while military equipment remains in the governorate.

More at the link

Dozens of UAE-backed Fighters killed in Saudi strikes in Hadhramaut
[HodhodYemenNews] Dozens of fighters from the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) were killed in Saudi ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in Hadhramaut’s valley districts over the past two days, media sources reported Sunday. The strikes reportedly targeted positions seized earlier by STC forces.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the preliminary figures indicate that at least 70 STC fighters were killed. Most of them come from the provinces of Dhalea and restive Lahj
... a Yemeni governate located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. It is the stomping grounds on the southern secessionist al-Harak movement
provinces.

According to the statistics, Radfan (in Lahj governorate) recorded the highest number of victims, with 22 killed, followed by Dhalea with 14 killed.

The report added that among the dead were seven fighters from Yafa, seven from the al-Musaymir in Lahj, four from Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
, and two each from Shabwah and Aden.

No casualties were reported from Hadhramaut, despite STC claims that local fighters make up the bulk of its forces there.

The sources also noted that five unidentified dead were believed to belong to forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, amid claims from media affiliated with the Islah party that those units had taken part in operations in Hadhramaut

Hundreds more are believed to have been maimed in the strikes and ensuing festivities across the valley and coastal districts, the reports said.

These bloody developments come following intensive air raids by Saudi warplanes on the camps of the First Military Region, which had been seized by the STC forces, in the districts of Hadhramaut, at the beginning of last December, as part of a ground operation that was then called ’Promising Future.’

The sources said the Saudi strikes forced STC units to withdraw from sites they had captured, stretching from al-Khasha’a in al-Abr district in northern Hadhramaut to Seiyun and the placid provincial capital, Mukalla. There are also reports of possible moves to push STC units out of neighboring Shabwah.

This comes after Saudi Arabia

...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
forced the UAE to pull its forces out of military bases it had set up in Hadhramaut and Shabwah — extending to Aden and Lahj — after Abu Dhabi’s role in the Saudi-led coalition’s war was effectively ended.

An Nahar adds:

At least 80 troops from Yemen's secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) have been killed in fighting with Saudi-backed forces and strikes since Friday, a military official from the group told AFP on Sunday.

At least 152 members of the UAE-backed STC forces were wounded and 130 were taken captive, the official said, giving a preliminary toll of casualties following the start of the operation.

Saudi-backed forces began on Friday operations to retake swathes of territory seized by the UAE-backed STC, as a struggle for dominance between forces backed by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi deepened a rift between the two Gulf allies.

Most of the casualties had occurred in strikes by the Saudi-led coalition that targeted military camps held by the separatists, the official said, including Al-Khasha and Barshid military camps in Hadramawt province.

Yemen's presidency on Saturday announced the retaking of resource-rich Hadramawt, following an apparent retreat of the STC.

Riyadh-aligned government military officials on Saturday also said authorities in neighboring Mahra province had switched back their allegiance without any resistance.

On Sunday, Saudi-backed forces were consolidating positions in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramawt province, two government military officials told AFP.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have long supported rival groups in Yemen's divided government. A December offensive by the STC, in which it took control of Hadramawt and Mahra, angered Saudi Arabia, exposing strains in ties between the two oil-rich powers.

The Saudi-led coalition launched repeated warnings and air strikes over the past week, including one on an alleged Emirati arms shipment to the separatists.

On Friday, a strike on the Al-Khasha military camp in Hadramawt left 20 dead, according to an earlier toll from the separatist group.

On Saturday, a military official with the STC told AFP Saudi warplanes had carried out "intense" air strikes on another of the group's camps at Barshid, west of Mukalla.

The Times of Israel has more here.

Posted by:badanov

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