Troop deployment marks new phase in confrontation with Southern Transitional Council, amid Saudi-led mediation and political fallout - Anadolu Ajansı

Residents express relief after Giants Forces take over southern city and pledge loyalty to Presidential Leadership Council

Landing at Aden International Airport on a trip in late 2017, the plane had two flags visible as it moved along the tarmac. One was the flag of the former South Yemen, resurrected as a symbol of Yemen’s secessionist southern movement. The other was of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the movement’s primary backer.

Yemen’s separatist movement has announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south and demanded other factions in the war-torn country accept the move.

Hours after its leader's unexplained absence, the Southern Transitional Council said he was in Aden overseeing military and security operations.

The announcement by the UAE-backed separatist group follows major escalations with Saudi Arabia and the internationally-recognized government.

Yemen is threatening to fracture even further, exposing a growing rift between Middle East powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The absence of southern separatist leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi from Riyadh crisis talks has heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Yemen. The Southern Transitional Council claims control of Aden,

Yemen's separatist movement on Friday announced a constitution for an independent nation in the south and demanded other factions in the war-torn country accept the move in an escalation of a confrontation that has pitted Gulf powerhouses Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against each other.

Aden and adjacent areas are currently controlled by the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). The leader of the STC had been residing in the palace, but his current whereabouts are unknown.