Aden falls as Yemen's separatists collapse

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 8/1/2026

JUST weeks after they controlled almost two-thirds of the country, the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a United Arab Emirates-backed separatist militia aiming to achieve independence for the former South Yemen, has collapsed during a Saudi counteroffensive.

Following the lightning offensive by the Southern rebels, the Yemeni government declared a state of emergency for 90 days and demanded that the Emirates, who the Yemeni government alleged of orchestrating the offensive, remove all of its troops from the country. The UAE obliged, which cut all momentum from the Separatists.

The Yemeni government, aided by Saudi airstrikes and boots on the ground, launched one of the largest counteroffensives in this stage of the Yemeni Civil War against their former ally, the STC. This offensive was almost as fast as the STC's offensive, but led to the complete collapse of the Southern army.

Aden is the second-largest city in Yemen, and the largest city in the former South. It fell to the STC in 2018, and became the headquarters of the Presidential Leadership Council in 2022, when the STC joined the government.

On 7 December, local time, the leadership of the STC fled the country, and, with very little resistance, the Yemeni government's army entered Aden, all but ending the secessionist project funded so heavily by the United Arab Emirates in the last decade.

Supporters of the separatist cause protested in Aden as the government arrived, however this did little to support their movement.

The Southern Transitional Council emerged as the most Zionist organisation in the Yemeni conflict. It was the most aggressive group in its opposition to the Axis of Resistance during its time in the Presidential Leadership Council.

This offensive has effectively turned the war into a two-sided conflict - between the Government largely in the south, and the Ansar Allah movement, more popularly known as the Houthis, in the north. This is the first major change to the make-up of the conflict since the Southern Transitional Council became a major player in 2017.