Yemen Separatists Declare Self-Rule in Blow to Saudi Arabia

  • Move complicates Saudi efforts to end Yemen’s 5-year civil war
  • Secessionists had signed power-sharing deal with government

Aden in 2019.

Photographer: Saleh Al-Obeidi/AFP via Getty Images

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Yemen separatists have declared self-rule in the country’s south, dealing a major blow to Saudi Arabia’s efforts to end a devastating civil war it fueled in the neighboring nation.

A November power-sharing deal between the Saudi-backed administration of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the secessionist Southern Transitional Council supported by the United Arab Emirates had been meant to reconcile onetime allies fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control much of the country.