AL MUKALLA, Yemen, Dec 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Yemen separatists said they were undeterred after strikes blamed on Saudi Arabia hit their positions Friday, in the latest escalation since they seized large swathes of territory last month.

Emirati-backed separatists seeking to revive the formerly independent state of South Yemen have in recent weeks made territorial gains, while regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni government's main backer, has warned them to pull back.

Washington, which counts both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as allies, on Friday called for restraint.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in air strikes in Hadramawt province, which came amid a dramatic escalation in a conflict that, for more than a decade, has plunged Yemen into humanitarian catastrophe.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) said strikes "will not serve any path of understanding and will not deter the people of the South from continuing to move forward toward restoring their full rights".

Following the raids, Yemen's government urged the Saudi-led coalition to support its forces in Hadramawt, after separatists seized most of the country's largest province.

It asked the coalition to "take all necessary military measures to protect innocent Yemeni civilians in Hadramawt province and support the armed forces" in imposing a de-escalation, official Yemeni news agency Saba reported.

The strikes came as a Yemeni government official in Riyadh told AFP that Saudi Arabia may be considering military action against the separatists if talks fail.

A Yemeni military official said around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were amassed near the Saudi border but were not given orders to advance on separatist-held territory.

The areas where they were deployed are located at the edges of territory seized in recent weeks by the UAE-backed STC.

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

- Iran-backed Houthis -

Recent separatist advances have added pressure on ties between regional powers Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which support rival groups within Yemen's internationally recognised government.

The government is a patchwork of groups that includes the separatists, and is held together by shared opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio avoided taking sides between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution," Rubio said in a statement, adding Washington was "grateful for the diplomatic leadership" of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The STC told AFP that Saudi Arabia had conducted two strikes, while a video aired on separatist-affiliated media showed a plume of smoke rising from the desert.

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs the government, did not immediately respond to AFP's request to confirm the strikes.

The raids followed area clashes Thursday between the separatists and a tribal leader close to Saudi Arabia, which killed two separatist fighters according to the STC.

A separatist military official in Hadramawt told AFP that the tribal leader had left the country after the fighting.

A Yemeni government official in Riyadh told AFP this week that the head of Yemen's presidential council met with Western ambassadors and Saudi Arabia's defence minister while dispatching envoys to Aden to persuade the STC to withdraw from Hadramawt and Mahra provinces.

Earlier this month, a Saudi-Emirati military delegation visited Aden to ask the STC to return the two provinces, with Saudi de-escalation efforts still ongoing, Riyadh said.

If efforts to return those areas collapse, Saudi Arabia had signalled to Yemen's government that it could launch air strikes and deploy the so-called Nation Shield forces, a Salafist group it backs, to advance on the ground.

- United front? -

On Friday, the UAE welcomed Saudi efforts to support security in Yemen, as the two Gulf allies sought to present a united front despite backing different sides in the fighting.

Mediator Oman called for "engaging in a comprehensive political dialogue".

The Houthis pushed the government out of the capital Sanaa in 2014 and secured control over most of the north.

The Iran-backed Houthis have been at war with the government, which since 2015 has been backed by the Saudi-led coalition, in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.

Fighting had decreased since a UN-negotiated truce in 2022.