Yemen separatists accuse Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against their forces

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Separatists in southern Yemen accused Saudi Arabia on Friday of targeting their forces with airstrikes, something not formally acknowledged by the kingdom after it warned the forces to withdraw from governorates they recently took over.

The Southern Transitional Council, backed by the United Arab Emirates, said the strikes happened in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate. It wasn’t immediately clear if there were any casualties from the strikes that further raise tensions in the war-torn nation and put at risk a fragile Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country’s north for a decade.

Amr Al Bidh, a foreign affairs special representative for the Council, said in a statement to The Associated Press that its fighters had been operating in eastern Hadramout on Friday after facing “multiple ambushes” from gunmen. Those attacks killed two fighters with the Council and wounded 12 others, Al Bidh said.

The Saudi airstrikes happened after that, he added.

The Council later described their operations in the area as seeking a wanted man and trying to cut off smuggling through the area.

Faez bin Omar, a leading member in a coalition of tribes in Hadramout, told the AP that he believed the strikes served as a warning to the Council to withdraw its fighters from the area. An eyewitness to the strikes, Ahmed al-Khed, said he saw destroyed military vehicles afterward, believed to belong to forces allied to the Council.

The Council’s satellite channel AIC aired what appeared to be mobile phone footage it described as showing the strikes. In one video, a man speaking could be heard blaming the strike on Saudi aircraft.

Officials in Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. However, the Saudi-owned, London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, quoting “informed sources,” reported late Friday that the kingdom carried out the strikes “to send a message" to the Council.

“Any further escalation would be met with stricter measures,” the paper said.

On Thursday, the kingdom called on the Emirati-backed separatists in southern Yemen to withdraw.

The Council moved earlier this month into Yemen’s governorates of Hadramout and Mahra. That had pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the coalition fighting the Houthis.

Those aligned with the Council have increasingly flown the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967-1990. Demonstrators rallied on Thursday in the southern port city of Aden to support political forces calling for South Yemen to secede again from Yemen.

Following the capture of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north by the Houthis in 2014, Aden has been the seat of power for the internationally recognized government and forces aligned against the rebels.

The actions by the separatists have put pressure on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which maintain close relations and are members of the OPEC oil cartel, but also have competed for influence and international business in recent years.

The UAE said in a statement Friday that it “welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support security and stability" in Yemen.

“The UAE reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to supporting all endeavors aimed at strengthening stability and development in Yemen, contributing positively to regional security and prosperity,” it added.

There has also been an escalation of violence in Sudan, another nation on the Red Sea, where the kingdom and the Emirates support opposing forces in that country’s ongoing war.

The Iranian-backed Houthis seized Sanaa in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Iran denies arming the rebels, although Iranian-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen despite a U.N. arms embargo.

A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting have pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine.

The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the globe’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war, greatly disrupting regional shipping.

Further chaos in Yemen could again draw in the United States.

Washington launched an intense bombing campaign targeting the rebels earlier this year that U.S. President Donald Trump halted just before his trip to the Middle East in October. The Biden administration also conducted strikes against the Houthis, including using B-2 bombers to target what it described as underground bunkers used by the Houthis.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

A street vender rides his cart at along a street in Aden, Yemen, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo)

Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags and a poster of their leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo)

Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold a South Yemen flag during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo)

People eat at a restaurant in Aden, Yemen, Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. (AP Photo)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Cuban immigrant who had built a new life working at a Kentucky scrapyard died on Christmas Day from severe burns suffered in last month’s UPS cargo plane crash, raising the death toll to 15, officials said.

Alain Rodriguez Colina was on the ground when the plane, fully loaded with fuel for a flight to Hawaii, plowed into businesses after departing Louisville’s airport, exploding in a massive fireball. Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed his death via social media.

“May Alain’s memory be a blessing,” the mayor said late Thursday.

Three pilots and multiple people died after the plane’s left engine detached during takeoff on Nov. 4, and cracks were later found where the engine connected to the wing, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport is home the largest UPS package delivery hub.

Colina, a Cuban immigrant, had worked at the nearby Grade A Auto Parts & Recycling since 2023, moving up rapidly to the position of metal buyer, said owner and CEO Sean Garber in a phone interview Friday. Colina embraced the company’s culture and life in Louisville and even became a University of Kentucky fan. His mother and siblings lived in the area and he had a daughter in Cuba, he said.

Workers at the scrapyard have described the scramble to help survivors after the crash. Colina had been with a customer and a coworker who died, Garber said. Colina got out, but he was burned over 50% of his body and doctors didn’t give him much of a chance for recovery. He was in an induced coma, never regaining consciousness. His family visited often.

After surviving so many weeks, it seemed like he was starting to heal, and Garber said concern was mixed with optimism. But on Thursday, Colina took a turn for the worse.

He was a good man, Garber said, with a big heart who cared about the organization, customers and his family.

“He believed in the opportunity he got in the United States and really made the most of it,” Garber said. “He should still be with us.”

Earlier this month, a lawyer filed two wrongful death lawsuits that allege that the company kept flying older aircrafts without increasing maintenance beyond what's regularly scheduled. The lawsuit also names General Electric, which made the plane’s engine. Both UPS and GE have said they don’t comment on pending lawsuits but safety remains their top priority as they assist the federal investigation. That litigation does not include Colina.

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all MD-11s, which had exclusively been used for hauling cargo for more than a decade.

FILE - Allen Wilson, right, hugs an attendee after writing on crosses for victims during a vigil Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, in Louisville, Ky., after a UPS plane crashed at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)