Saudi-backed Yemeni government recaptures much of the South in new offensive

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 4/1/2026

FOLLOWING the early December offensive by South Yemeni separatists backed by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi forces and the UN-recognised Yemeni government have launched a counteroffensive, in the latest event in the decade-long proxy war.

Government forces, aided by Saudi airstrikes, moved swiftly to recapture the areas in the east of the country, just days after the separatists published a provisional constitution for what they call the 'State of South Arabia'.

The latest offensive has seen the government recapture 80% of the nation's oil and gas supply, which is currently held in the rural east, an area that is mostly desert.

The early December offensive put an end to years of cooperation between the Southern separatists and the Government, which saw the Government set up in Aden, a city controlled by the separatists, and saw separatist representation on the Presidential Leadership Council. It additionally ruptured relations between the United Arab Emirates, which back, fund, and largely control the southern separatists, and Saudi Arabia, which backs, funds, and largely controls the government. 

While large swathes of physical territory were captured in the most recent government offensive, the vast majority of those living in the former South Yemen still live in areas under the control of separatist forces.

The ongoing tensions in Southern Yemen constitute the first major conflict in the war-torn nation since the 2022 Southern Yemen offensives, which were largely fought by the separatists in opposition to Yemen's Al-Islah Party, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked party that was the second-largest party in Yemen prior to the onset of civil war.

The Saudi-backed offensive can be seen as a marginally positive development for Palestine, as the Southern separatists are extremely pro-'Israel', and have devoted much of their time to combating opposition to 'Israel' in Yemen.