DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday, claiming the attacks were a response to a shipment of weapons intended for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a separatist force in the region. These weapons reportedly arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As of now, the UAE has not acknowledged the strike.

This bombing marks a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between Riyadh and the STC, which has received backing from the Emirates. The strikes have further strained relations between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both of which have historically supported rival groups in Yemen's long-standing battle against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. This development comes at a time of rising unease in the wider Red Sea region.

A military statement released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency detailed that the airstrikes aimed at ships that had reportedly arrived from Fujairah, a port city located on the UAE's eastern coast. The Saudi military claimed that the vessels carried disabled tracking devices and unloaded substantial quantities of weapons and military vehicles to support the STC forces.

The statement described the presence of these weapons as an "imminent threat" that jeopardized peace and stability. Subsequently, the Coalition Air Force conducted a targeted airstrike on military vehicles and weapons that had been offloaded from these vessels in Mukalla. It remains unclear whether the attack resulted in any casualties or if other militaries besides Saudi Arabia participated in the operation. The Saudi military stated that the timing of the attack was chosen specifically to minimize the chances of collateral damage.

Reports suggest that one of the targeted vessels was the "Greenland," a roll-on, roll-off ship registered in St. Kitts. Tracking data has indicated that this vessel was docked in Fujairah on December 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. However, the second vessel involved has not been identified yet.

Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, referred to social media footage that allegedly shows new armored vehicles traversing Mukalla following the ship's arrival. Efforts to reach the Dubai-based owners of the ship have so far been unfruitful. Al-Basha anticipates a "calibrated escalation" from both sides. He predicts that the UAE-backed STC will likely respond by consolidating its power, while the flow of UAE weapons to the STC may be curtailed due to the airstrike, as Saudi Arabia controls the airspace.

Mukalla is located in Yemen's Hadramout governorate, an area recently seized by the STC. It lies approximately 480 kilometers (300 miles) northeast of Aden, which serves as the operational base for anti-Houthi forces following the Houthis' takeover of the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The airstrike in Mukalla follows prior attacks by Saudi Arabia on the STC forces, described by analysts as a warning directed towards the separatists, encouraging them to retreat from Hadramout and Mahra governorates.

The STC had recently expelled forces aligned with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, another group in the coalition working against the Houthis. Additionally, supporters of the STC have increasingly displayed the flag of South Yemen, which existed as a separate nation from 1967 until Yemen's unification in 1990. Demonstrations have occurred in support of political movements advocating for South Yemen's secession from the larger state once again.

This situation has intensified the tension between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both of which maintain close diplomatic and economic ties as members of the OPEC oil cartel. However, they have also been in competition for regional influence and international business opportunities in recent years. Furthermore, both nations are facing challenges in another ongoing conflict in Sudan, where they back opposing factions in that country's civil strife.

In a related context, Israel has acknowledged the independence of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, making it the first country to do so in over 30 years. This move has raised alarms among the Houthis, who have threatened to target any Israeli presence in Somaliland.