Al-Mukalla (South24 Center)

Hadramout Governor and Member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Salem Al-Khanbashi, said that the Sultanate of Oman took part, through air sorties launched from Salalah, in countering the movements of Southern forces toward Al-Mahra Governorate. He said the Omani position was directed against what he described as the “Southern Transitional Council’s project.”

Al-Khanbashi’s remarks came during an extended interview with the “Yemen Podcast” program, broadcast on Tuesday (June 2), in which he addressed the recent events that took place in Hadramout Governorate last December and January, as well as the role of regional actors in dealing with the movements of Southern forces at the time.

Responding to a question about the Sultanate of Oman’s position on the crisis, Al-Khanbashi said that Muscat “had a clear and specific stance” when Southern Transitional Council forces entered Al-Mahra. He added that “aircraft took off from Salalah” to monitor whether there was any infringement on central state institutions.

Al-Khanbashi further noted that the Omani position was “against the Transitional Council’s project,” linking this to the historical background of tense relations between the Sultanate of Oman and the former Socialist Party in South Yemen, against the backdrop of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen regime’s support for the Dhofar Liberation Front in the 1970s.

Al-Khanbashi did not provide additional details regarding the nature of the Omani air missions, or whether they were reconnaissance missions or direct military actions. No immediate comment has been issued by the Sultanate of Oman or the Southern Transitional Council regarding his statements.

Al-Khanbashi’s remarks are significant because they were made by a government official and a member of the Presidential Leadership Council. They also raise questions about the scale of regional interventions in the military and political scene in South Yemen’s governorates, particularly Hadramout and Al-Mahra, where complex local and regional interests intersect.

Al-Mahra is located on the border with the Sultanate of Oman and is considered one of the most sensitive governorates in South Yemen in terms of regional security calculations. For years, it has served as a corridor for the flow of weapons and drone components to the Houthi militia.

In the same interview, Al-Khanbashi spoke about the recent events in Hadramout, claiming that the Southern forces that entered the governorate did not have a sufficient popular base there.

He said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia played a major role in containing the situation and rearranging the security and military conditions following the withdrawal of those forces.

He pointed out that coordination with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Defense, and the Nation’s Shield Forces was decisive in normalizing conditions in Hadramout.

He confirmed that several local forces, including the Hadrami Elite Forces, personnel from the Ministry of Interior, the Hadramout Protection Forces, and the Security Support Forces, were integrated into the new security arrangements in the Coast and Valley regions.

The Hadramout governor’s statements come at a time when the governorate continues to represent one of the most prominent arenas of political and military competition in South Yemen, given its geographical location, vast area, and oil resources, alongside its long border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its proximity to the Sultanate of Oman.

In early January, Southern forces were subjected to hundreds of airstrikes carried out by Saudi Arabia, coinciding with the advance of Riyadh-backed forces on the ground, which led to the withdrawal of Southern forces toward Aden. The airstrikes and clashes at the time left more than 100 Southern fighters dead.