Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper said that the recent moves by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the eastern Yemeni governorates of Hadramowt and Al-Mahra amount to a dangerous rebellion and coup that threaten the country’s unity and stability, warning of their repercussions for regional security.
In an opinion piece titled “Saving Yemen and Legitimacy from the Curse of Division and Chaos,” the paper described the moves as a “unilateral adventure” aimed at altering the political and military trajectory through control of the eastern governorates, calling it a catastrophic deviation that requires urgent Arab and international action to halt.
The newspaper noted that the storming of Hadramowt and Al-Mahra has deepened rifts with the legitimate authorities and created a dangerous fracture in the structure of the state—developments that, according to Al-Ahram, now pose an existential threat to Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity.
Al-Ahram stressed that the STC’s practices constitute an explicit departure from Arab and international legitimacy and a repudiation of the understandings and outcomes of the Riyadh talks, in addition to violating the references governing the transitional phase and the resolutions of Arab summits. It said these military moves undermine the legal standing of the Yemeni state in the temporary capital, Aden, and in the liberated governorates.
The paper argued that what is unfolding goes beyond an internal political dispute, representing a direct threat to the unity of security and military decision-making and reviving the logic of parallel authorities condemned by the international community for their severe impact on weakening the legitimate government and eroding its independence.
It warned that escalation in the eastern governorates rings alarm bells for the security of neighboring countries—particularly the Gulf states, Egypt, and the Red Sea region—adding that any unilateral action in southern Yemen could intersect with Houthi practices of disruption and piracy, necessitating swift and coordinated action by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE.
The newspaper underscored the need to intensify regional efforts to stop what it described as the “STC’s coup against Yemen’s unity and the legitimate leadership represented by the Presidential Leadership Council,” and to push for the resumption of a comprehensive Yemeni dialogue grounded in the frameworks governing the transitional phase, while postponing discussions of southern issues until after the Yemeni crisis is resolved and the country’s unity is fully restored.
Al-Ahram concluded by affirming that any retreat from protecting Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity and preserving legitimate authority in Aden constitutes a direct threat to the national security of neighboring states, warning that the collapse of state logic in Yemen would not be contained within its borders but would open the door to further chaos and fragmentation across the region at a time when other Arab countries are facing deepening crises.
