Dortmund's Adeyemi to miss more than a month with injury and Reyna has recovery setback

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) — Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi is set to miss more than a month with a muscle injury after scoring three goals in his team's 7-1 win over Celtic, and his American teammate Gio Reyna has had a further setback to his recovery from a groin injury.

The injury to Adeyemi is more serious than first feared and comes just as his first-half hat trick Tuesday had Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin hoping he could consistently be one of the Champions League runner-up's top players.

Adeyemi was taken off early in the second half of the Celtic game with what seemed to be a thigh problem, but he had indicated that it didn't seem that serious. Now Sahin says Adeyemi is unlikely to return until after an international break in mid-November.

That would mean the 22-year-old forward misses a Champions League game at Real Madrid on Oct. 22 in a rematch of last season’s final and a challenging Bundesliga game against Leipzig on Nov. 2.

Sahin also said 18-year-old forward Julien Duranville, who replaced Adeyemi off the bench against Celtic, would be out for a similar amount of time with a thigh injury.

Reyna strained his groin while training with the U.S. national team last month, missing friendlies against Canada and New Zealand. He has now incurred what Dortmund called a “setback” in his recovery. The club didn't give further details of a timeline for his return.

It's the latest in a long series of injury difficulties for Reyna, whose only playing time for Dortmund this season was a brief substitute appearance in his team's first Bundesliga game of the season in August.

Dortmund's next game is Saturday at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi keeps the ball after scoring three goals at the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Celtic FC at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Dortmund won 7-1. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi applauds the fans as he leaves the pitch after an injuring during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Celtic FC at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi, right, leaves the pitch after an injuring during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Celtic FC at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Dortmund's Adeyemi to miss more than a month with injury and Reyna has recovery setback

Dortmund's Adeyemi to miss more than a month with injury and Reyna has recovery setback

Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi applauds the fans as he leaves the pitch after an injuring during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Celtic FC at the BVB Stadion in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck on Friday forces in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, a separatist leader says.

This comes as a Saudi-led operation attempts to take over camps of the Southern Transitional Council, or STC, in the governorate of Haramout that borders Saudi Arabia.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen accused the head of the STC of blocking a Saudi mediation delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden.

The STC deputy and former Hamdrmout governor, Ahmed bin Breik, said in a statement that the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces advanced toward the camps, but the separatists refused to withdraw, apparently leading to the airstrikes.

Mohamed al-Nakib, spokesperson for the STC-backed Southern Shield Forces, also known as Dera Al-Janoub, said Saudi airstrikes caused fatalities, without providing details. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.

Al-Nakib also accused Saudi Arabia in a video on X of using “Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda militias” in a "large-scale attack " early Friday that he claimed sepratists were able to repel.

He likened the latest developments to Yemen’s 1994 civil war, “except that this time it is under the cover of Saudi aviation operations.”

Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout who was chosen Friday by Yemen's internationally recognized government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate, refuted STC claims, calling them “ridiculous” and showing intentions of escalation instead of a peaceful handover, according Okaz newspaper, which is aligned with the Saudi government.

Earlier on Friday, al-khanbashi called the current operation of retrieving seized areas “peaceful.”

“This operation is not a declaration of war and does not seek escalation,” al-Khanbashi said in a speech aired on state media. “This is a responsible pre-emptive measure to remove weapons and prevent chaos and the camps from being used to undermine the security in Hadramout,” he added.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen demands the withdrawal of STC forces from the two governorates as part of de-escalation efforts. The STC has so far refused to hand over its weapons and camps.

The coalition's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said Friday on X that Saudi-backed naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.

In his post on X, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, said the kingdom had tried “all efforts with STC” for weeks "to stop the escalation" and to urge the separatists to leave Hadramout and Mahra, only to be faced with “continued intransigence and rejection from Aidarous al-Zubaidi," the STC head.

Al-Jaber said the latest development was not permitting the Saudi delegation's jet to land in Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves “everyone and the public interest.”

Yemen’s transport ministry, aligned with STC, said Saudi Arabia imposed on Thursday requirements mandating that flights to and from Aden International Airport undergo inspection in Jeddah. The ministry expressed “shock” and denounced the decision. There was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.

ِA spokesperson with the transport ministry told the AP late Thursday that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these reported measures.

Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the northern regions, while a Saudi-UAE-backed coalition supports the internationally recognized government in the south. However, the UAE also helps the southern separatists who call for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen. Those aligned with the council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990.

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Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

Southern Yemen soldiers of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo)