Yemen’s Saudi-backed government launched an operation to take back military positions from southern separatists on Friday and said it had reclaimed one of the largest military camps in Hadramout province.

The operation in Hadramout marks the latest escalation in Yemen.

Hadramout’s governor, Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi, said in a statement on Friday that his forces had taken control of a military camp in al-Khasha’a, the largest and most important base in the province.

The governor had earlier said his forces were launching what he called a “peaceful” operation.

A senior official of the Southern Transitional Council told Reuters the operation had not been peaceful.

Yemen’s government said it had appointed Hadramout’s governor to take overall command of the “Homeland Shield” forces in the eastern province, granting him full military, security and administrative authority in what it said was a move to restore security and order.

This is not a declaration of war, the governor said in a speech on Yemen TV, adding that the move aims to prevent the use of camps to threaten security and to protect Hadramout from sliding into chaos.

The oil-producing Hadramout province borders Saudi Arabia and many prominent Saudis trace their origins to it, lending it cultural and historical significance for the kingdom.

A spokesperson for the STC, Mohammed al-Naqeeb, said on Friday that forces were on full alert across the region and warned that it was ready to respond forcefully in a post on X.

The STC told Reuters that three of the airstrikes targeted the al-Khasha’a military camp.

Three Yemeni sources told Reuters armoured vehicles belonging to the government had been moving towards the Khasha’a camp, which has the capacity to house thousands of troops and was taken over by the STC in December.

The STC, which seized large swathes of southern Yemen last month from the internationally recognised government, which in turn saw the move as a threat.

The UAE last week said it was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for its forces to leave within 24 hours.

OPEC+ members will meet online on Sunday, and OPEC+ delegates have said they will extend a policy of maintaining first-quarter production unchanged.

Aden airport shut

Today, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen blamed STC leader Aidarus Al-Zubaidi for refusing to grant landing permission the previous day for a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden.

A halt in flights at Aden international airport on Thursday continued into Friday as both sides traded blame as to who was responsible for the air traffic shutdown.

“For several weeks and until yesterday, the Kingdom sought to make all efforts with the Southern Transitional Council to end the escalation … but it faced continuous rejection and stubbornness from Aidarus Al-Zubaidi,” the Saudi ambassador, Mohammed Al-Jaber, said on X.

Zubaidi issued directives to close air traffic at Aden’s airport on Thursday, the ambassador added, saying that a plane carrying a Saudi delegation to Aden aiming to find solutions to the crisis was denied permission to land.

Aden’s international airport is the main gateway for regions of the country outside Houthi control.