The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it carried out a “limited” airstrike on Tuesday targeting an arms shipment bound for separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates, a significant escalation that laid bare a deepening rift between the two Gulf allies.
The strike, at the port of al-Mukalla in southern Yemen, was triggered by the arrival of two ships from the Emirates that entered the port without permits, said Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki, the main spokesman for the coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
After the ships docked, crew members began unloading a “large quantity” of weapons and armored vehicles, Brigadier al-Malki said in a statement. He said the arms were meant for the Southern Transitional Council, or S.T.C., a separatist group.
“Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons, which threaten security and stability, the coalition air forces conducted a limited military operation this morning targeting the equipment,” Brigadier al-Malki said.
It was the first time Saudi forces were known to have directly fired on assets that they said were linked to the S.T.C., which is backed and funded by the United Arab Emirates. The strike followed a tense weekend in which Saudi Arabia issued an ultimatum demanding that the separatists withdraw from territory in the eastern provinces of Hadramaut and Mahra that they seized in a rapid offensive earlier this month.
The Emirati foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday.
The coalition’s airstrike followed an official request for military intervention from Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, who said the S.T.C.’s recent moves were pushing the country toward “chaos and division.”
For years, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been nominal partners against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are backed by Iran. But while the Saudis are determined to prop up the internationally recognized government and its armed forces to keep Yemen unified, the Emirates has placed its bets on the S.T.C., which wants to resurrect an independent state in southern Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition carried out warning strikes last week in Hadramaut that were meant to halt the S.T.C.’s advance and signal the Saudis’ commitment to defending the Yemeni government’s authority in the east.
Ismaeel Naar is an international reporter for The Times, covering the Gulf states. He is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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