At least four civilians were killed in Saudi-led coalition strikes in Yemen on Wednesday, two hospital sources told AFP, as the force raided the home province of a separatist leader.
Yemen’s coalition attacked the home province of a UAE-backed separatist leader on Wednesday after he was kicked out of the presidency and accused of “high treason” for attempting to secede.
More than 15 airstrikes hit Dhale, the home governorate of Aidaros Alzubidi, whose Southern Transitional Council (STC) grabbed swathes of territory last month before seeing the advance rolled back by the coalition and pro-Saudi forces.
“The initial toll from the strikes on the province of al-Dhale is four civilian deaths and six wounded,” medical sources at the Al-Nasr and Al-Tadamon hospitals in al-Dhale told AFP.
Alzubidi fled and mobilised “large forces” in Yemen’s southwest, around Aden, after failing to attend talks in Riyadh, the coalition said.
Alzubidi “fled to an unknown location … after he had distributed weapons and ammunition to dozens of elements inside Aden”, coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki said in a statement.
The coalition carried out new strikes to prevent Alzubidi from “escalating the conflict” and extending it into Dhale governorate, he said.
Alzubidi had been due to travel to the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday for talks aimed at easing the clashes.
But his plane was delayed and he was not on board when it departed, the coalition said.
A STC official told AFP that Alzubidi decided not to fly to Saudi Arabia after receiving information that he would be asked to dissolve the group, which forms part of the Presidential Leadership Council.
The official said the delegation left for Riyadh without Alzubidi.
A later statement from the STC said they had lost contact with the delegation that travelled to Riyadh for talks, and demanded Saudi authorities “guarantee the safety of its delegation currently in Riyadh”.
STC spokesman Anwar Al-Tamimi told AFP that contact had been lost with the delegation that travelled to Riyadh during the night.
In a statement, the Presidential Leadership Council, which holds executive power and groups rival factions, announced Alzubidi’s removal, accusing him of high treason.
“It has been established that [Alzubidi] has abused the just cause of the South and exploited it to commit grave crimes against civilians in the southern governorates,” it said.
More than 100 people have been killed in the airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition on the newly seized separatist positions in the southern governorates.
