DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni port city of Mukalla on Tuesday, saying it was carrying a shipment of weapons from the United Arab Emirates for Yemeni separatists. The UAE did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
The attack marked another escalation in tensions between the kingdom and the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council. It also further sours relations between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which has backed both sides in Yemen’s decade-long war against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the attack, saying it was carried out after the ship arrived there from the UAE east coast port city of Fujairah.
“Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons, which threaten security and stability, coalition air forces conducted limited military operations this morning targeting weapons and combat vehicles unloaded from two ships in the port,” the statement said.
It was unclear whether the strike resulted in any casualties. The Saudi military said it carried out the attack overnight to ensure “no collateral damage occurred.”
The UAE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The target of the attack was likely a ship identified by analysts as the Greenland, a roll-on-roll-off ship suspended off the island of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the ship arrived in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and Mukalla on Sunday.
Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemeni expert and founder of risk consultancy Basha Report, cited social media videos purportedly showing new armored vehicles driving past Mukalla after the ship arrived. The vessel’s owner, who is based in Dubai, could not immediately be reached.
Mukalla is located in Yemen’s Hadramawt province, which the Security Council has occupied in recent days. The port city is about 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for Yemen’s anti-Houthi rebels since rebels captured the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.
The attack in Mukalla came after Saudi Arabia carried out an airstrike on the Security Council on Friday, which analysts said was a warning to separatists to stop their advance and leave the Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces.
The Security Council has kicked out forces belonging to the Saudi-backed National Shield, another group in the coalition fighting the Houthis.
Countries allied to the Security Council increasingly fly the flag of South Yemen, which was an independent country from 1967 to 1990. Demonstrators have been rallying for days in support of political forces calling for South Yemen to break away from Yemen again.
Separatist actions have put pressure on relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two countries have close ties and are both members of the OPEC oil cartel, but have also competed for influence and international business in recent years.
Violence has also escalated in Sudan, another country on the Red Sea coast, where it and the UAE back rival forces in the country’s ongoing war.
