Jemen

[…] The fighting between the two sides — ostensible allies in the Saudi-led coalition that for years has been fighting Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels, based in the north — has added another layer to the complex civil war in the Arab world's most impoverished country.

Yemen’s southern separatists vowed to keep control over Aden, warning the only way out of the impasse that has fractured a Saudi-led military alliance was for Islamists and northerners to be removed from positions of power in the south. The separatists, supported by coalition member the United Arab Emirates, effectively took over Aden, the temporary seat of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, over the weekend.

Fighting within the anti-Huthi front threatens to make an already multi-faceted conflict even more complex and intractable. Clashes in Aden reveal tensions within the Saudi-led coalition and highlight the pressing need to address Yemen’s “southern question” now rather than wait until a post-conflict political transition.

Clashes between southern separatists and presidential guards in Aden, the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government, have killed at least one person and badly wounded two others, according to local officials and witnesses. The violence, which prompted a United Nations call for de-escalation, highlighted a rift within the Saudi-UAE-led coalition battling the Houthi rebel movement since 2015.

Yemen’s civil war has been deadlocked for months, with neither side making major gains.

The United Nations human rights office is reporting that intensified attacks by a myriad of armed groups in Yemen are having a devastating impact on civilians throughout the war-torn country. Dozens of armed groups, including those affiliated with the al-Qaida and Islamic State terror groups, reportedly are escalating attacks in Yemen, adding to the misery of civilians who have suffered through more than four years of civil war.

Armed groups affiliated with the Al Qaeda and ISIL terror groups, appear to have intensified their activities in Yemen, Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) declared on Tuesday, describing the situation as an example of “deeply worrying developments” that have seriously impacted civilians over the past ten days.

At least 32 people have been killed in an attack on a military parade by Yemen's rebel Houthi movement. The parade in the southern port city of Aden was targeted by missiles and an armed drone, a Houthi-run TV channel says. Aden is the seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government.

A United Arab Emirates' military drawdown in Yemen is building momentum for a nationwide truce this year, bolstering efforts by the Saudi-led coalition it is part of to end a war that has tarnished the image of U.S.-allied Gulf states. Two diplomatic sources said talks could start by autumn on expanding a U.N.-led truce already in place in the port city of Hodeidah to a broad ceasefire.

With Yemen once again at a “crucial moment” the UN Special Envoy trying to facilitate peace there told Security Council members on Thursday that despite the dangers of being over optimistic, he could not help thinking the country could finally be “nearing the end of its war.”