Saudi Arabia-backed coalition strikes weapons shipments from two UAE-origin vessels in Yemen: Here is why

A Saudi Arabia-backed coalition on Tuesday said it had conducted limited airstrikes on shipments that two UAE-origin vessels had brought to Yemen's Mukalla Port. It claimed that the vessels had brought "a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles" to the port.

A spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, Major General Turki Al Malki, claimed that the two vessels—which had arrived over the past weekend (December 27-28) from the UAE's Port of Fujairah—had not obtained any permits from the Coalition's top brass.

Al Malki also noted that the tracking devices on both ships had been turned off, and that the vessels had unloaded a big shipment of ammunition and combat vehicles to aid the Southern Transitional Council’s (STC) forces in the Hadramaut and the Al Mahrah regions of eastern Yemen.

"These actions are considered flagrant violations of pacification and efforts to reach a peaceful resolution, in addition to being in defiance of the UNSCR 2216 (2015)," Al Malki declared, as per an official report from the Saudi Press Agency.

In recent weeks, however, the UAE-backed STC—a separatist force that seeks to restore the formerly independent state of South Yemen—has swept through various regions of the country, attacking other government forces and Saudi Arabia's allies.

The airstrike also strains ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, that are on opposite ends of Yemen's decade-long war against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Visuals from the scene show massive flames erupting from the port after the airstrike, with drone footage showing how the shipments were targeted. 

The drone footage also shows the armoured cars being tracked till they were parked together, which was when they were reportedly struck by the limited airstrikes.

In that regard, the Coalition had urged civilians, armed personnel, and fishermen in the Hadramaut province to evacuate the port until further notice, the state-owned Al Arabiya TV reported earlier on Tuesday. 

Though the Coalition has said that the limited airstrikes were conducted in accordance with "the Customary International Humanitarian Law, and in a manner that guarantees no collateral damage", the UAE has not yet issued a statement about the strike on its vessels, and the armoured cars.

Apart from a stated aim to maintain peace in the region, the Coalition also claimed that the strike was done at the behest of the president of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).