Yemen separatists launch two-year independence transition as strikes kill 20

“EXISTENTIAL” WAR

Following repeated warnings and airstrikes on an alleged UAE weapons shipment this week, the Saudi-led coalition launched a wave of attacks on Friday.

Mohammed Abdulmalik, head of the STC in Wadi Hadramaut and Hadramaut Desert, said seven air strikes hit the Al-Khasha military camp.

Further strikes targeted other sites in the region and the airport and military base in Seiyun, STC military sources and eyewitnesses told AFP.

Reyad Khames, a resident of a village near Al-Khasha, said: “Saudi planes are chasing STC fighters. We don’t know what type of aircraft they are – we just see flashes and explosions hitting checkpoints, clearing the way for the (Saudi-backed) forces to advance.”

Friday’s deaths are the first from coalition fire since the STC’s campaign began.

The separatists’ military spokesman said it was in an “existential” war with Saudi-supported forces, characterising it as a fight against radical Islamism – a longtime preoccupation of the UAE.