Yemen’s Presidential Council leader Rashad al-Alimi announces the formation of a Supreme Military Committee under the leadership of coalition forces.
Yemen presidential council says Saudi coalition to lead all southern forces
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- Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) announced the formation of a Supreme Military Committee on Saturday, placing all southern military forces under the direct command of the Saudi-led coalition to secure stability following recent internal strife.
- The move follows a failed territorial offensive by the Southern Transitional Council (STC), whose leadership in Riyadh announced a disputed self-dissolution on Friday amid reports that its president, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, has fled the country while facing charges of high treason.
The head of Yemen's Presidential Council on Saturday said all military forces in southern Yemen will now operate under the command of the Saudi-led coalition, following a failed offensive by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) which Saudi Arabia says is backed by the United Arab Emirates.
"I announce the formation of a Supreme Military Committee under the command of the coalition forces," the leader of the Saudi-backed council Rashad Al-Alimi said in a televised address.
He said the committee would be responsible for "training, equipping, and directing all military forces and formations" in southern Yemen.
The announcement comes a few days after Yemeni forces supported by Saudi Arabia recaptured large swathes of territory from the STC separatists, who seized two key provinces in December.
The neighbours formed the backbone of the coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, who overran the capital Sanaa in 2014 and still control much of the country.
The STC faces an uncertain future with reports that its leader has fled the country, while a delegation it sent to Riyadh announced the group's dissolution on Friday, though STC members elsewhere said that was done under duress.
Meanwhile, thousands rallied in support of the STC in the city of Aden on Saturday, despite pro-Saudi officials prohibiting the gatherings.
The crowd waved the flag of former South Yemen, which was an independent state between 1967 and 1990, while others displayed portraits of STC president Aidarous Al-Zubaidi.
Yemen's internationally recognised government is headquartered in Aden, even as the city remains a stronghold for the STC.
