Saudi-led coalition strikes Yemen, says STC leader al-Zubaidi has fled

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen has launched strikes on the country’s southern Dhale governorate, saying it was targeting secessionist forces after their leader fled without boarding a plane scheduled to take him to Riyadh.

In a statement issued early on Wednesday, the coalition said the leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, had been due to fly out from the Yemeni city of Aden on Tuesday night for talks on ending the conflict between his group and the internationally recognised government of Yemen.

But al-Zubaidi did not board the plane, and “fled to an unknown location,” it said.

His whereabouts remain unknown.

“During this time, the legitimate government and the coalition received information that al-Zubaidi had mobilised a large force, including armoured and combat vehicles, heavy and light weapons, as well as munitions,” it said.

The force left Aden at around midnight and were later located in the Dhale governorate, it said. The coalition launched “preemptive strikes” at 4am local time (01:00 GMT) to disable those forces and thwart al-Zubaidi’s “attempt to escalate the conflict”, the statement added.

There was no immediate comment from the STC.

The council, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen, launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops in December, seeking an independent state in the south.

The group is backed by the United Arab Emirates.