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Yemen’s Saudi-backed defense minister was intercepted and besieged by residual southern separatist forces during a visit to a key frontline province on September 9, highlighting persistent rifts within the anti-Houthi coalition months after the formal dissolution of the Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Lt. Gen. Taher Al-Aqeeli arrived in al-Dhale province to inspect military positions and assess readiness against the Houthis, according to government-aligned sources. Local reports said armed elements linked to the former STC, often described as “southern resistance,” blocked his convoy, surrounded a military camp where he took refuge, burned vehicles from the motorcade, and detained some of his aides and guards.
Roads into and out of al-Dhale city were closed, and the situation remained tense and fluid. Conflicting accounts emerged. Some southern sources claimed the minister was trapped or had surrendered, while others indicated he had been moved to a safer location.
Government reports acknowledged the siege and captures but offered limited details on Al-Aqeeli’s precise status. Casualties among the minister’s escorts were reported but not independently confirmed.
Al-Dhale, a southern stronghold with a history of fierce resistance to Houthi advances, has long been a sensitive area for north-south dynamics.
Al-Aqeeli, a career officer from the northern Amran province, was appointed defense minister in February as part of a new cabinet under the Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council. Southern factions had already objected to the appointment, arguing it lacked adequate southern representation.
The clash traces to deeper fractures that intensified over the past year. The STC, which sought greater autonomy or independence for southern Yemen and once controlled significant territory with United Arab Emirates support, expanded its reach late last year before facing a Saudi-backed counteroffensive.
By January, the group suffered major losses. Its leader, Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, fled the country after being accused of treason, and a council delegation in Riyadh announced the STC’s dissolution. The UAE also ended its military deployment in Yemen.
Many local fighters and supporters, particularly in al-Dhale, rejected the dissolution as coerced. Residual forces have continued to operate and resist what they view as overreach by the central government, which they often portray as northern-dominated and insufficiently attentive to southern interests.
The incomplete integration of southern military units into national structures has fueled ongoing friction even as both sides nominally share the goal of confronting the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa.
The latest clash underscores how internal rivalries continue to complicate Yemen’s long-running conflict more than a decade after it began. The internationally recognized government and its allies face the dual challenge of fighting the Houthis while managing competing claims over authority and resources in the south. This of course plates in favor of the Houthis.
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