Saudi-led coalition strikes STC forces in southern Yemen after al-Zubaidi leaves talks in doubt

# Saudi-led coalition strikes STC forces in southern Yemen after al-Zubaidi leaves talks in doubt

*Event date: 2026-01-07*

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched air strikes in southern Yemen after saying it targeted separatist forces linked to the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, following the disappearance of the group’s leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, before a planned trip to Riyadh.

The strikes came as the conflict between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and southern separatists entered another volatile phase. The coalition said al-Zubaidi had been due to fly to the Saudi capital for talks on ending the dispute, but did not board the plane and instead left for an unknown location. It said it later identified a force that had moved out of Aden and was located in Dhale governorate, where it carried out what it described as preemptive strikes.

The sequence of events mattered beyond the immediate military action. According to the coalition, al-Zubaidi had mobilised armoured and combat vehicles, as well as heavy and light weapons and munitions, before the group moved south. The strikes were presented as an effort to stop an escalation before it could spread further. Al Jazeera reported that the action came after Saudi-backed ground forces also moved on Aden, a key southern stronghold.

Reports from the city suggested a fast-moving collapse in STC positions. A Yemeni government official told Al Jazeera that STC forces had pulled out from all districts of Aden governorate and that government-aligned troops had seized the international airport. The same reporting said the presidential palace in Aden was also taken and that exit and entry points to the city were brought under government control. STC officials, however, disputed that account and said the group remained in control of Aden.

The conflict has been sharpened by the regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which backs the STC. The coalition’s intervention against southern separatists underscored how fractured the anti-Houthi camp had become even though it remains formally aligned against the Iran-backed movement that controls northern Yemen.

The immediate trigger for the strikes was the status of al-Zubaidi himself. The coalition said he fled instead of joining the planned discussions in Riyadh. Matthew Bryza, an adviser to the UAE-backed STC, told Al Jazeera that al-Zubaidi avoided the talks because he feared being detained. The coalition later said the STC delegation, without al-Zubaidi, had departed for Riyadh. The STC said it lost contact with its delegation and called on Saudi Arabia to halt the air strikes.

A separate political track quickly grew around the fighting. The internationally recognised Presidential Leadership Council said al-Zubaidi had been removed from government for high treason, while Vice President Abdullah al-Alimi argued that the episode should not be framed as a simple victory for one side over another. That language suggested an effort to contain the political damage even as the military situation changed on the ground.

The STC had already been pushing beyond its core southern base. Al Jazeera reported that the group had launched an offensive against Saudi-backed government troops in December, seeking to build an independent state in the south and move toward Hadramout and Mahra. Those provinces are strategically important because of their size and borders. Saudi air strikes on Mukalla on December 30 and subsequent government advances in the east helped shape the battlefield before the latest escalation.

By the time the coalition announced its strikes in Dhale, the crisis had already spread across military, political and diplomatic channels. What remained unclear was whether the planned Riyadh talks could still happen, and whether the STC’s leadership had lost enough leverage to force a more direct Saudi intervention.

The episode showed how quickly local power struggles in southern Yemen can turn into a confrontation involving the region’s largest Gulf states. It also suggested that even a pause for negotiations had not yet replaced the logic of force.