Mukalla | South24 Center

Military sources and eyewitnesses told South24 Center that Saudi warplanes carried out two airstrikes early Friday (December 26), targeting a position of the Hadrami Elite Forces in Wadi Nahb, within Ghayl Bin Yamin district, Hadramout governorate.

No casualties were reported. Smoke was seen rising near civilian four-wheel-drive vehicles and members of the Hadrami Elite Forces were deployed in the area.

Local residents said two military aircraft conducted the strikes at around 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

In a statement issued shortly afterward, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) said the airstrikes “will not serve any path of understanding.”

An informed source told South24 that the Saudi airstrikes followed intensive aerial activity that had continued since late Thursday night.

According to the source, the attack came after the Hadrami Elite Forces secured the Wadi Nahb camp, which had previously been occupied by gunmen loyal to tribal leader Amr bin Habrish, led by an individual identified as Salem Al-Gharabi.

The Second Military Region has repeatedly accused Al-Gharabi of carrying out highway robberies targeting fuel tankers and of being behind armed ambushes against the Hadrami Elite Forces over the past two months, which resulted in the deaths of several soldiers.

On Thursday night, the Second Military Region said in an official statement that Hadrami Elite Forces had come under an armed ambush led by groups affiliated with what it described as the “rebel” Amr bin Habrish and Salem Al-Gharabi, vowing a “harsh response.”

According to a source within the STC, two people were killed and seven others wounded in the ambush that targeted the Hadrami Elite Forces on Thursday night. Aden Independent Channel reported that 12 soldiers were injured during security operations in Wadi Nahb.

Local reports say Salem Al-Gharabi is linked to smuggling networks connected to Ali Al-Huraizi, a pro-Houthi figure in Al-Mahra governorate.

The Saudi airstrikes came one day after a statement by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said Riyadh was seeking to contain the situation in Hadramout and exerting all efforts to reach peaceful solutions.

The Saudi statement said the Kingdom was counting on the STC to “take the initiative to end the escalation and ensure the smooth and urgent withdrawal of its forces” from Hadramout and Al-Mahra.

STC Calls for Coordination to Safeguard the South

In its first response to the Saudi statement, the STC said the movements of the Southern Armed Forces in Hadramout and Al-Mahra were in response to popular demands and aimed at confronting terrorist groups and cutting off smuggling routes used by the Houthi militias as a “lifeline” over the past years.

The council stressed that these measures fall within efforts to “entrench security and stability, protect state institutions, and address serious imbalances that have affected public services and citizens’ livelihoods.”

The STC said it remains open to any coordination that ensures Southern security and prevents the return of threats, adding that any future arrangements must be based on protecting the “security, unity, and safety of the South,” while respecting “the aspirations and will of our Southern people” and serving shared interests with Saudi Arabia.

The council also described the airstrikes on Hadrami Elite Forces positions as “surprising,” saying they “will not serve any path of understanding,” and will not deter Southerners from continuing their course. It reaffirmed the commitment of Southern forces to confronting terrorism, cutting off Houthi supply lines, maintaining partnership with the Arab Coalition, and fulfilling “the substance and obligations of the popular mandate of President Aidrous Al-Zubaidi.”

For its part, the command of the Second Military Region expressed strong astonishment over the Saudi airstrike that targeted one of its camps in the Wadi Nahb area, at a time when its forces are engaged in intense field confrontations against what it described as “rebel elements,” backed by terrorist operatives affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Houthi group.

The command said the airstrike constituted a “surprising targeting” of regular forces involved in an open war against terrorism and rebellion.

The statement stressed the Second Military Region’s forces’ commitment to their right to self-defense and to continuing counterterrorism operations, while at the same time strongly condemning the Saudi air force’s intervention in striking its regular units.

The command called on Saudi Arabia to direct its airstrikes toward the “rebel and terrorist elements” instead of targeting forces engaged in direct battles to safeguard security and stability in Hadramout.

Southern commentators described the Saudi airstrikes as a “failed” attempt to break the will of Southerners.

Dr. Yasser Al-Yafei, head of Yafea News Media Foundation, said popular will “cannot be suppressed—neither by successive statements, nor by airstrikes, nor even by direct military intervention on the ground.”

Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and the Arab League have called for de-escalation and expressed support for Yemen’s unity, while the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed its commitment to supporting stability and development in Yemen.

On Thursday evening, hundreds of residents from Hadramout’s valley and coastal areas celebrated the Hadramout local authority’s announcement backing the STC’s measures aimed at declaring an independent Southern state. Fireworks were seen lighting up the skies over Seiyun and Mukalla.