SANAA, Yemen — Precarious calm is prevailing in Aden province after reported UAE and Saudi airstrikes launched to back each side of a separatist conflict in southern Yemen, further deepening the rift within the Arab coalition that formed to fight the Houthi rebels who were largely in the north. Meanwhile, indirect dialogue in Jeddah, Saud Arabia, between the Saudi-backed and internationally recognized Yemeni government and UAE-backed southern separatists has reached a deadlock.
Aden has been witnessing fighting between the internationally recognized government and the southern separatists since Aug. 10, when the latter seized control of Aden city. The UAE-backed separatists then moved toward Abyan and Shabwa provinces, ignoring Saudi-led coalition calls for a cease-fire and withdrawal from government institutions they had seized.
Shortly after the separatist-affiliated Elite Forces deployed in Attaq, the capital of the oil-producing province of Shabwa, and called for a cease-fire Aug. 24, government forces launched a counterattack in the city that forced the Elite Forces to withdraw.
On Aug. 27, forces loyal to the Saudi-backed government began moving from eastern Shabwa toward neighboring Abyan, which they recaptured early Aug. 28 before moving southwest to Aden.
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