ADEN, Yemen — Saudi-backed forces spread across Yemen's Mukalla on Sunday after retaking the port city which was seized by southern separatists last month. The capital of Hadramout province was retaken by Yemen's internationally recognized government following days of Saudi airstrikes.
Video footage obtained by The Associated Press showed the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces being welcomed by residents as the troops drove through streets in armed vehicles. Forces also were seen driving around and outside Mukalla's al-Rayyan Airport.
Ahmed Samaan and Bakr al-Ketheri, residents of the Hadramout towns of al-Qatn and Seiyun, told the AP that the Emirati-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, had withdrawn from military camps.
Tensions rose after the STC moved last month into the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region. That pushed out forces affiliated with National Shield Forces, which are aligned with the Saudi-led coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Yemen has been engulfed in civil war for more than a decade, with the Houthis controlling much of the north and the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government in the south. But the United Arab Emirates, a coalition member, also supports the separatists.
On Saturday, Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council — the ruling organ of the internationally recognized government — said on Facebook that the National Shield Forces achieved ''record success'' in taking back all military and security sites in Hadramout.
Salem al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadramout, was chosen on Friday by the government to command the Saudi-led forces in the governorate.
ِِِِِAl-Alimi on Saturday called Mohamed Ali Yasser, the governor of Mahra, for a progress report on the handover of camps and facilities to the National Shield Forces and local authorities. It was unclear whether the handover had been completed.
