Arab-led coalition moves to stabilize S. Yemen amid clashes between allies

The Arab-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen moved Monday to work out a ceasefire as nominal allies in the south turned on each other in a power struggle.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the main powers in Yemen’s Arab-led coalition, formed a joint committee to oversee a ceasefire between UAE-backed southern separatists and Saudi-backed government forces in the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, Reuters reports.

Earlier this month, separatist forces took over the southern port of Aden, the interim seat of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government. Last week, they extended their reach to the capital of nearby Abyan. Southern fighters and government forces have also clashed in the oil-producing Shabwa province. 

Both sides are part of the Western-backed coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 against the Houthi rebels who ousted Hadi’s government from power in the capital Sanaa in late 2014.