Yemen’s main separatist group and its institutions will be dismantled effective Friday, the group’s secretary-general said, following weeks of unrest in areas of southern Yemen and a day after its leader fled to the United Arab Emirates.
Abdulrahman Jalal al-Sebaihi said the Southern Transitional Council would shut down all of its bodies and offices inside and outside Yemen, citing internal disagreements and mounting regional pressure.
But that decision was contested by the council’s spokesman, Anwar al-Tamimi, who said on X that only the full council, under its president, can take such steps — highlighting the internal divisions within the separatist movement.
Yemen has been mired for more than a decade in a civil war that involves a complex interplay of sectarian and tribal grievances and the involvement of regional powers.