Yemeni officials: UAE-backed forces seize southern oil fields

Sana’a, Yemen – Yemen’s army, backed by the United Arab Emirates, has taken control of key oil and gas fields in the south after nearly a week of bitter clashes with rivals loyal to the internationally recognized government, officials and tribal leaders said on Monday.

The conflict has trapped the UAE-backed Giant Brigade and the Shabwa Defense Forces on the one hand, and paramilitary police, known as the Special Security Forces, on the other.

They erupted earlier this month when Shabwa police and military commanders were fired for alleged anti-UAE sentiment and ties to the Islamic Muslim Brotherhood group. An internationally recognized government supports this initiative.

Seizing the oil fields is likely to consolidate control of UAE-backed southern forces seeking to rebuild their country in the southern half of Yemen. It could also weaken Yemen’s broader coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

A few days ago, UAE-backed militias also captured Atak, the provincial capital of Shabwa, security and oil officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The Giant Brigade and the Shabwa Defense Forces, part of the Southern Transitional Council, are the UAE’s allies on the ground and another pillar of the Saudi-led military coalition that has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

The council, which effectively controls much of Yemen’s southern half, has pushed repeatedly to split the country in two again, as it did from 1967 to 1990.

Yemen’s civil war erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sana’a from a northern enclave, forcing the government to flee to the country and eventually into exile. Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition – backed by the United States at the time – entered the war in early 2015 in an attempt to restore the government to power. The conflict has since turned into a proxy war between regional foe Saudi Arabia and Houthi-backed Iran.

The war has also divided Yemen along tribal, regional and political lines.