Around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters amass near Yemen border: Yemen official

By AFP 26 December 2025, 5:52 pm

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Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags and a poster of their leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, December 25, 2025. (AP)

A Yemeni military official from the internationally recognized government tells AFP that around 15,000 Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters have amassed in strategic areas bordering Saudi Arabia since separatists seized swathes of territory last month — but they were not ordered to advance.

All the areas where they are deployed are located at the edges of territory seized in recent weeks by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council separatist group.

“We have not received military instructions to move towards the two provinces,” the official says, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.