UAE to resume funding anti-Houthi forces in southern Yemen; Saudi Arabia to provide air cover

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to re-enter the war in Yemen by resuming payments to some government forces fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis in the south, according to sources in Yemen. In return, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide air cover for the force.

The arrangement is the first tangible sign that the rift between the two Gulf powers over Yemen’s future may be starting to heal, driven partly by alarm over the Houthi advance. Saudi Arabia is facing daily drone and missile attacks, and Houthi strikes have shut down its airports and hit some of its energy infrastructure.

The forces involved are mainly the Giants Brigades, which the UAE once trained and funded and which are regarded as among the most effective units in the fragmented anti-Houthi coalition. The UAE cut off its funding when it pulled out of Yemen in January.

Southern separatists demanded a referendum on secession this week that would restore the borders of 1967 to 1990, when Yemen was two separate states. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE has responded.

The Southern Transition Council has not agreed to fight outside the old southern borders, though explicit Saudi consent to a referendum would probably lift that limit. Its leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, fled to Abu Dhabi in January after a failed bid to take control of the south. Saudi Arabia then bombed UAE arms shipments meant for his forces, and the UAE announced it was leaving Yemen.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government, based in Aden, declared a counteroffensive last week to drive the Houthis out of the capital, Sanaa. The push has had limited success so far near Majzar and around the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Emirati officials are deeply concerned that the Houthis, despite heavy losses, remain determined to take Taiz and Marib.

On Friday, two Houthi missiles hit Aden airport as a passenger plane was preparing to take off. No casualties were reported.