Yemen Monitor/Hadramout/Exclusive:
The Emirati-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) has escalated its rhetoric towards Hadramout governorate, once again threatening to resort to military action to “impose the will of the southern people” in the province. This comes amid an escalating conflict between local and central powers over the future governance of the resource-rich region.
Saeed Ahmed Al-Mohammadi, head of the STC’s executive body in Hadramout, stated that the time has come for “decisive intervention by the Hadrami Elite Forces, backed by the Southern Armed Forces, to protect the Hadrami fabric and impose a de facto situation that expresses popular will,” as he described it.
Al-Mohammadi affirmed that any movement on the ground must be based on “broad southern legitimacy” to confront what he called “division and hegemony projects.” He called on local forces and components to align themselves behind “the choice of the southern people.”
This escalation coincides with increasing demands from the “Hadramout Tribal Alliance” to form an independent administration, separate from both the STC and the central government. Currently, the governorate is experiencing intense polarization among three main powers: the legitimate government, the STC, and the Tribal Alliance.
Although Hadramout has remained largely free from direct confrontations during the years of war, it has now become a complex arena of influence, reflecting divergent visions and interests among local and regional actors. This is occurring amidst a lack of political solutions that would ensure fair representation of the demands of the governorate’s residents.
