ADEN, Yemen: Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher on Sunday accused southern separatists of attempting a coup in the interim capital of Aden after they took over the government headquarters.
The premier called on the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthis to intervene, hours after fierce clashes erupted between military units loyal to the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and separatist security forces.
At least 15 people were killed in fierce fighting on Sunday in Yemen’s interim capital of Aden, hospital sources said, as separatists took over the government headquarters.
Three civilians were among those killed, medical sources in four hospitals in Aden said.
“A coup is ongoing here in Aden against legitimacy and the country’s unity,” Dagher said in the statement.
Security sources told AFP that pro-separatist had taken over the government headquarters in Aden after clashes.
The clashes erupted after separatist protesters were prevented from entering Aden where supporters of secessionists were gathering for a rally to demand the ouster of Dagher’s government.
Aden serves as a temporary base for Hadi’s Saudi-backed government as Iran-backed rebels took over the capital Sanaa more than three years ago.
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to back Hadi’s government in its war against the Houthis.
Military and security units from both sides were deployed in the city amid high tension.
Universities, schools and the only international airport in the city had all been closed, according to witnesses.
Dagher said that events in Aden were headed toward “total military confrontation” and urged members of the coalition, in particular the UAE, to take action.
He also warned that separating south Yemen from the rest of the country would benefit Iran and the Houthis.
“Iran is trying to consolidate its presence in Yemen through the Houthis and by splitting Yemen, we are giving them one-third of the land and three-quarters of the population,” Dagher said.
Sunday’s rally was called by the South Transition Council, an autonomous body aimed at overseeing self-governance among southern provinces.
The 26-member council, which is not recognized by Hadi’s government, includes the governors of five southern provinces and two cabinet ministers.
Former Aden governor Aidarous Al-Zoubeidi formed the council in May after Hadi fired him the previous month.
Ahead of the planned protest, the coalition called for calm and restraint from “all Yemeni political and social” parties.
It urged all sides to “adhere to the language of calm dialogue,” to liberate all of Yemen from the control of the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists, according to a statement cited late Saturday by Saudi state news agency SPA. The Yemeni government has welcomed the statement.
Yemen’s government spokesman Rajih Badi said in a statement that the position of the coalition in its support for the legitimate government was what it had stressed from the outset – which was the importance of maintaining the focus of the battle in confronting the Iranian-backed efforts to divide the country from within.
He said there was a need to keep faith in the goals and objectives of the legitimate government, the Arab coalition and UN in achieving and maintaining stability in the country.
The spokesman explained that the adoption of any action against the legitimate government only led to serve the enemies of Yemen, Gulf Arab countries, and the Arab region.
Many dead in Yemen’s Aden as PM accuses separatists of coup
Many dead in Yemen’s Aden as PM accuses separatists of coup
UN says Yemen’s Houthis seized telecoms equipment, vehicles
- The Houthis have repeatedly targeted UN agencies and detained dozens of its staff
- The actions threaten to worsen access to humanitarian services and aid in Houthi-controlled areas
SANAA: Yemen’s Houthi militants have confiscated telecommunications equipment and vehicles from unstaffed United Nations offices in Sanaa, the world body said in a statement Friday, decrying potential disruptions to its humanitarian work.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted UN agencies and detained dozens of its staff as part of a crackdown on alleged Israeli espionage rings since the start of the war in Gaza.
The actions threaten to worsen access to humanitarian services and aid in Houthi-controlled areas, where most of Yemen’s impoverished population lives.
On Thursday, the Houthis “entered at least six UN offices in Sanaa, all of which are currently unstaffed, and removed to an unknown location most of the telecommunication equipment in these offices and several UN vehicles,” the office of the resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Julien Harneis, said in a statement on X.
The Iran-backed group did not inform the UN why it had taken the assets, the statement said.
The development came a day after a UN official told AFP that the World Food Programme was ending the contracts of all 365 staff in Houthi-controlled Yemen, citing funding challenges and an unsafe environment for employees.
The statement said the militants had also prevented the UN Humanitarian Air Service from flying to Sanaa for more than a month, and to a government-held area not far from the capital for even longer.
“This decision further constrains the delivery of humanitarian assistance in these areas,” it said.
Around 19.5 million people in Yemen — more than half the population — were in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025, according to UN figures.
In November, the WFP and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization named Yemen as one of the countries with populations at “imminent risk of catastrophic hunger.”
“This confiscation of UN assets and the blocking of UNHAS flights... comes at a time when humanitarian needs in Yemen, particularly in areas under their (Houthi) control, are increasing. This will make the humanitarian situation worse in those parts of Yemen,” the resident coordinator’s office said.
It added the actions were taken “without discussions with the UN, and therefore without any opportunity to find mutually acceptable arrangements for the delivery of assistance.”
