Yemen: Saudi-led coalition rejects Southern Transitional Council (STC) south Yemen self-rule declaration
A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition has rejected a separatist group’s declaration of self-rule in Yemen’s south, demanding “an end to escalatory actions” and return to a peace deal signed in November last year.
The Saudi statement on Monday comes a day after Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared a state of emergency and announced “self-administration rule” in regions under their control, including in the port city of Aden.
The key city serves as the interim capital of the internationally recognised and Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The STC and Hadi’s forces are supposed allies in Yemen’s complicated conflict and both have fought together in the Saudi-led coalition’s war against the Houthi rebels, who overran parts of northern Yemen in 2014, including the capital, Sanaa.