Several people were killed and injured as armed groups fought each other in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, medical staff at hospitals in the city said.
Gunmen were deployed throughout most districts of the city and there was heavy gunfire, according to reports from residents. There have been rising tensions between southern separatists, who are allied with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi over control of the southern half of the country.
The two groups had been united throughout Yemen’s three-year civil war against the Iran-aligned Houthi group in the north, but now their feud could cripple the effort by their Gulf Arab backers to roll back perceived Iranian expansion in Yemen.
The clashes in Aden come as a deadline imposed by the separatists for the government to resign expired on Sunday. Hadi’s administration nominally controls about four-fifths of Yemen’s territory, but political and military leaders in Aden now want to revive the former independent state of South Yemen.
The southern separatists – the Southern Resistance Forces – last week accused Hadi’s cabinet of corruption and inefficiency and demanded they quit.
Yemeni PM warns of coup as separatists take over govt HQ
Yemen’s prime minister accused southern separatists of an attempted coup on Sunday after they took over the government headquarters amid fierce clashes in the city of Aden.
Prime Minister Ahmed bin Dagher called on the Saudi-led military coalition, which has been backing the government against Houthi rebels in control of much of the north, to intervene in its defence.
Security sources and residents said fighting appeared to have spread to most of the southern port city of Aden, throwing Yemen into further chaos after years of civil war.
The southern separatists ─ who want the return of an independent state that ended with Yemen’s unification in 1990 ─ had backed President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government against the Houthis but tensions between the two sides had been on the rise.
“A coup is ongoing here in Aden against legitimacy and the country’s unity,” Dagher said in a statement.
Security sources told AFP that pro-separatist units trained and backed by the United Arab Emirates had taken over the government headquarters in Aden after clashes.
At least six people, including four from pro-government forces, were killed and dozens wounded, the sources said.
The fighting erupted after separatist protestors were prevented from entering the city for a protest to demand the government’s ouster from Aden, established as its interim base after the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014.
