Separatist forces of Southern Transitional Council (STC) at a check point, in Aden, Yemen, on December 31, 2025. (Photo by AP)

Saudi warplanes have bombed separatists in southern Yemen backed by the United Arab Emirates, leaving seven killed, amid tensions between the two Persian Gulf Arab nations.

Mohammed Abdulmalik, head of the UAE-backed Southern Transition Council (STC) in Wadi Hadhramaut and Hadhramaut Desert, said seven air strikes hit the al-Khasah camp on Friday, killing seven separatists and wounding more than 20 others.

He noted that further attacks hit other sites in the same region.

The deaths are the first caused by the Saudi-led coalition, which launched a devastating war against Yemen to reinstall the overthrown government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Sana`a and crush the popular Ansarullah movement in 2015. The UAE is a key member of the coalition.

The airstrikes come in response to a sweeping advance by the STC offensive in which the separatist forces seized swathes of the oil-rich provinces of Hadramawt and Mahra last month, pushing out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces in a move that sparked Riyadh`s outrage.

The aerial attacks struck shortly after pro-Saudi forces launched a campaign to "peacefully" take control of military sites in Hadhramaut, bordering Saudi Arabia.

"This operation is not a declaration of war, nor an attempt to escalate tensions," Hadhramaut governor Salem al-Khanbashi, also commander of the province`s Saudi-backed forces, said.

"This operation does not target any political or social group," he said, adding that it "aims to peacefully and systematically hand over military sites".

Saudi sources confirmed the strikes were carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, with a source close to the Saudi military warning, "It will not stop until the Southern Transitional Council withdraws from the two governorates."

Southern separatists are calling for South Yemen to secede once again from Yemen, as it did from 1967 to 1990.

Amr al-Bidh, foreign affairs representative for the STC, insisted Riyadh had no intention of keeping its counter-operation peaceful.

"Saudi Arabia knowingly misled the international community by announcing a ‘peaceful operation` that they never had any intention to keep peaceful," he posted on social media, adding "This was evidenced by the fact that they launched seven air strikes minutes later."

Also on Friday, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jabir, said the SCT had blocked a Saudi delegation from landing in the southern city of Aden, despite having agreed on its arrival with some STC leaders to find a solution that serves "everyone and the public interest", accusing the group of "intransigence".

Earlier, the STC-controlled transport ministry denounced a Saudi demand that flights to and from Aden International Airport make a stop in Jeddah for inspection.

The Associated Press cited a spokesperson with the ministry late Thursday as saying that all flights from and to the UAE were suspended until Saudi Arabia reverses these measures.