Since entering 2026, the situation in Yemen has continued to escalate. According to the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday, the government forces in Yemen are launching military operations against the Southern Transition Commission in the Hadhramaut Governorate of Yemen with Saudi aircraft support. On Tuesday, the Southern Transition Commission announced the start of a two-year transition period and issued a “Constitutional Declaration.” The U.S. media said this move was seen as further escalation of the conflict in Yemen, and it also further polarized the two major powers in the Gulf region – Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The governor of Hadhramaut Governorate, Hambashi, said on the 3rd that the Yemeni government forces had recaptured Saiwan, the second-largest city in the province. The Yemeni government forces also engaged in fire with armed forces under the Southern Transition Commission in Mukara, the capital of Hadhramaut Governorate, this morning, according to the AFP news agency.
In December 2025, the Southern Transition Commission seized control of two southern provinces from the Yemeni government forces and took over the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden. On January 2, officials from the Southern Transition Commission said Saudi fighters bombed camps and military strongholds located in the Hadhramaut Governorate controlled by the commission. Reuters said this was the most direct Saudi military intervention in recent times.
The Yemeni Saba News Agency reported on 3rd that President Alimi, chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Committee, has made a request to Saudi Arabia to host a forum to resolve the “southern problem.” Alimi said he hoped the forum would bring together all southern political factions “without distinction,” including the UAE-supported Southern Transition Committee.
Since 2014, the Husein militants of Yemen have gradually gained control of the north and northwest of the country, including the capital Sana‘a; in southern and eastern Yemen, multiple factions coexist, the internationally recognized government of Yemen maintains influence in some ports and cities, and the Southern Transition Commission and several local militants have real power in the province of Aden and some southern coastal regions. Since 2015, when Saudi Arabia led coalition forces to intervene in the conflict in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has supported the government of Yemen, while the UAE has maintained close ties with the Southern Transition Commission.
The Southern Transition Committee was established in 2017, and although it has since 2022 joined the Saudi-led multilateral coalition to combat Hussein‘s armed forces and joined the Presidential Leadership Committee of the Yemeni government administration, it still insists on demanding the realization of “sovereignty” in the southern region.