The conflict in south Yemen escalated abruptly over the last few days, undoing progress in the peace effort and risking a rise in armed confrontations in southern provinces.

On May 11, ferocious armed clashes between Yemeni government forces and southern separatists broke out in Abyan province in southern Yemen. Government forces led an offensive on the outskirts of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC)-controlled Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, in a bid to recapture it. 

The government forces were driven out of the city in August when STC forces managed to take over Zinjibar, overpowering opposing military units. So far, the city is under the hold of the separatists who fight for seceding from Yemen’s north and restoring the former independent state that unified with the north in 1990. 

The fighting continued through the weekend in Abyan province. At least 14 fighters were killed on Saturday when pro-government troops attacked the STC forces near Zinjibar, roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Aden in the country’s south, AFP reported.