Yemen’s Government Accuses U.A.E. of Bombing Its Forces in Aden

(Bloomberg) — Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said United Arab Emirates warplanes have bombed its troops in the south to support separatist forces, in what would represent a startling rift between major Gulf allies.

The internationally-recognized government condemned the “flagrant” attacks by the U.A.E., according to a Foreign Ministry statement. The airstrikes took place in the southern cities of Aden and Zinjibar, killing and wounding civilians as well as military personnel, it said. The U.A.E. Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

If true, the bombing would be a significant development in a war that’s dragged on for more than four years and is increasingly showing signs of a schism between the U.A.E. and its key, Saudi Arabia. Clashes between government troops and the separatists escalated this month in southern Yemen, fracturing forces meant to be united against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who come from the north.

During a few hours of heavy fighting in Aden on Wednesday, a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital admitted 51 wounded people, 10 of whom were dead on arrival, the group said in a statement.

The government says the separatists’ campaign couldn’t have happened without military and financial backing from U.A.E., a charge the Gulf state has denied.

The Emirates joined a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen in 2015 to restore the rule of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and his government after the Houthis captured the capital, Sana’a. The conflict has killed thousands of people and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In the statement, Yemen’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Al-Hadhrami called on Saudi Arabia to “side with the legitimate government and stop this illegal and unjustifiable military escalation.”

The turmoil has raised questions over the strength of the Gulf Arab alliance that plays a crucial role in supporting the Trump administration’s policies against Iran. The two nations, however, have stressed their unity, with Anwar Gargash, the U.A.E. state minister for foreign affairs, describing ties with Riyadh as “existential.”

(Updates with statistics on casualties and injuries in third paragraph.)

–With assistance from Mahmoud Habboush.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mohammed Hatem in Dubai at [email protected];Vivian Nereim in Riyadh at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at [email protected], Mark Williams

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