Clash breaks out between Yemeni army, southern separatists in Abyan

A clash has broken out between the Yemeni army and the southern separatists in Abyan province, according to Arab News. The southern separatists called as Southern Transitional Council (STC) are majorly supported by the UAE actually make part of the Saudi-led coalition which is supporting the Yemeni government forces in fighting against the Houthis.

Occasionally, the fights have broken out between the two forces which are fighting on th same side otherwise.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen acted on Monday to work out a ceasefire with its nominal allies in the south of the country who turned on each other in a power struggle, fracturing the military alliance.

#BREAKING: Yemeni army clashes with Southern Transitional Council militants in Abyan province pic.twitter.com/wRH3HnIFQv

— Arab News (@arabnews) August 27, 2019

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the main powers in Yemen's Sunni Muslim coalition, have formed a joint committee to oversee a truce between UAE-backed southern separatists and Saudi-backed government forces in the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, a joint statement carried on state media said.

The separatists, who are demanding self-rule in the south, are part of the Saudi-led, Western-backed coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to try to restore the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi which was ousted from power in the capital Sanaa by the Houthis in late 2014.