Yemen’s Forgotten War: When Allies Turn Enemies in the Shadow of Peace Talks
As the world’s attention drifts from Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe, the country’s supposed allies are now turning their weapons on each other, exposing the dangerous fiction of a unified anti-Houthi coalition.
The Fractured Southern Alliance
The deadly clash in Hadramout province between forces of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) represents far more than a localized skirmish. With 32 soldiers dead and reports of wounded troops being executed, this incident tears open the barely concealed wounds within the anti-Houthi coalition that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have struggled to hold together since 2015.
The STC, backed by the UAE, ostensibly shares the same goal as the Saudi-supported government forces: defeating the Iran-aligned Houthis who control much of northern Yemen. Yet this latest violence demonstrates how competing visions for Yemen’s future have created a war within a war. The STC seeks an independent South Yemen, reviving pre-1990 borders, while the government in exile clings to the ideal of a unified state.
Strategic Implications Beyond Body Counts
The timing of this attack could hardly be worse for international mediators hoping to revive stalled peace negotiations. Hadramout province, Yemen’s largest governorate, contains critical oil infrastructure and serves as a vital corridor for humanitarian aid. When supposed allies engage in fratricidal combat here, it not only undermines military cohesion against the Houthis but also threatens the fragile economic lifelines keeping millions of Yemenis from starvation.
The reported execution of wounded soldiers, if confirmed, would constitute a war crime that further poisons any possibility of reconciliation. Such brutality suggests that the southern question—whether Yemen should remain unified or split—may prove as intractable as the larger conflict with the Houthis. The missing soldiers add another layer of anguish for families already devastated by nearly a decade of war.
The Regional Powers’ Dilemma
For Saudi Arabia and the UAE, this incident exposes the fundamental contradiction in their Yemen policy. While both Gulf states want to counter Iranian influence through the Houthis, they have backed different horses in the south. The Saudis need a unified Yemen to secure their border, while the Emiratis have cultivated the STC as part of their broader strategy to control key ports and waterways around the Arabian Peninsula.
This divergence has created a Frankenstein’s monster of competing militias, each claiming legitimacy while pursuing incompatible goals. The international community’s focus on achieving a ceasefire with the Houthis has allowed these southern tensions to fester, creating what amounts to a ticking time bomb for any future peace agreement.
The Cost of International Neglect
As the world’s attention shifts to conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, Yemen’s complexity deepens in the shadows. The 32 soldiers killed in Hadramout join the estimated 377,000 people who have died in Yemen’s war—a staggering toll that barely registers in international headlines anymore. Yet these latest casualties reveal an uncomfortable truth: even if the Houthis were to disappear tomorrow, Yemen would still face the prospect of continued violence as its supposed liberators turn on each other.
The Chief of Staff’s condemnation of the attack as threatening “peace and stability” rings hollow in a country where both have been absent for years. But his words point to a critical question that policymakers must confront: Can there be any meaningful peace process that addresses only the Houthi conflict while ignoring the southern powder keg?
As Yemen fragments further into competing fiefdoms, each with its own foreign patron and incompatible vision for the future, one must ask: Is the international community prepared for the possibility that Yemen, like Syria and Libya before it, may never again exist as a unified state?
