by Murad Abdo
ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- As the world prepares to turn the page on another year, Yemenis are facing renewed uncertainty amid widening political rifts.
In the country's southern and eastern provinces, a fragile calm is giving way to rising tensions, as warnings from the Saudi-led Arab coalition clash with the Southern Transitional Council's (STC) push to consolidate its military presence and advance its long-standing demand for southern self-determination.
More than a decade after the outbreak of its civil war in 2014, when Houthi forces captured Sanaa and large swathes of the north, Yemen is once again facing the prospect of a new conflict, this time among former allies within the anti-Houthi military alliance.
The Saudi-led coalition has warned it will directly confront any further military actions by the STC, which was formed in 2017 and joined the southern-based government in 2022, following a formal request for intervention from Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
According to Yemeni government sources, Saudi Arabia has given the STC a 72-hour ultimatum to withdraw its forces from Hadramout and Al-Mahrah and hand over military camps to the National Shield Forces, a Saudi-backed Yemeni unit formed in 2023. With the deadline set to expire at midday on Monday, diplomacy has now turned into a race against time.
Military sources report that thousands of Saudi-backed Yemeni troops are stationed near Yemen's borders, awaiting orders.
In the provinces of Hadramout, Al-Mahrah, Aden, and other regions controlled by the STC, warplanes patrol the skies, and civilians brace for an uncertain future.
"We have lived this before," said Mohammed Al-Hasani, a father of seven in the country's southern port city of Aden, the STC's main stronghold. "Back then, we lost everything. Today, we have nothing left to lose."
"We are tired, exhausted, and suffering, and can't even afford food for three days. How can we survive another war?" he asked.
Some residents fear that any confrontation could start with airstrikes and quickly spiral into a wider conflict, potentially engulfing all eight southern and eastern provinces under STC control. Others fear that once fighting begins, it will be impossible to contain.
"Wars don't stop easily," said Saleh Ali Askar, an Aden resident. "They start with airstrikes, then everything escalates. In the end, it is always civilians who pay the price."
Askar said what frightens him most is that this looming round of conflict is far more complex than before, with "ordinary people trapped between forces that were once allies, fighting side by side against the Houthi group, and are now confronting each other over the lives and cities of civilians."
Unlike much of Yemen, the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahrah were largely spared the worst violence of the past decade, allowing residents to live in relative calm. However, that sense of safety and normalcy has now disappeared.
In the city of Seiyun in Hadramout, residents report sleepless nights as Saudi aircraft fly overhead, breaking the sound barrier and releasing flares near STC positions. Parents say their children wake in fear, unfamiliar with the sounds of warplanes, unlike those in other Yemeni regions.
"We've never lived through anything like this during the past years," said Khaled Al-Kathiri, a resident of Seiyun.
Like many others, Al-Kathiri is considering leaving -- but has no clear destination. "Other regions including Aden may also become a battlefield," he said. "We don't know where safety is anymore."
In Mukalla, Hadramout's provincial capital, families are quietly preparing for the worst. "I withdrew my small savings and bought food and cooking gas," said Khaled Ba'azab. "But thousands of families can't do even that. Their living conditions are already unbearable. If fighting starts, the situation will be catastrophic."
Tensions in Yemen escalated on Dec. 3, when STC forces took control of Hadramout following clashes with pro-government units.
On Saturday, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman Al Saud warned the STC to withdraw from military camps in two Yemeni provinces and hand them over to local authorities, a day after Saudi warplanes conducted warning airstrikes on STC-affiliated military sites.
The STC, however, insists on maintaining its military deployments and has refused to withdraw, saying its expansion is aimed at "countering security threats posed by terrorist groups and protecting the aspirations of the southern people." ■
