Saudi Arabia has announced the conclusion of a limited military operation at the port of Mukalla in eastern Yemen, following air strikes on military cargo allegedly bound for southern separatist forces.
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi-led Arab coalition said operations at the port have fully resumed and that the mission was completed without civilian casualties or damage to infrastructure. The coalition described the action as a targeted operation aimed at neutralizing a security threat.
Earlier on the same day, the coalition confirmed it was conducting strikes at Mukalla, the administrative capital of Yemen’s Hadhramaut province, and issued warnings for civilians to evacuate the port area.
It later said the operation targeted military cargo unloaded from two ships that had arrived from the United Arab Emirates and were allegedly destined for forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council, which controls parts of southern and eastern Yemen.
The development comes amid heightened political and military tensions in eastern Yemen. A Yemeni government source said the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, travelled to Saudi Arabia for urgent talks on the escalating situation, following the seizure of government institutions and the airport in Hadhramaut by separatist forces after clashes with local tribes over control of oil resources.
Earlier this month, forces aligned with the Southern Transitional Council took control of oil fields in the Al Masilah area after fighting with units from the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance that had been stationed there for more than a year. The clashes resulted in casualties on both sides and forced PetroMasila, the operator of the fields, to halt production of between 85,000 and 90,000 barrels of oil per day.
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