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The southern separatists took the presidential palace in Aden on August 10, 2019. Photo taken on arrival in the port city of Aden. Nabil HASAN / AFP

Forty dead and 260 wounded, including many civilians, according to the UN. Since Wednesday the fighting in Aden highlights in Yemen the divisions within the coalition led by Riyadh. It is indeed armed groups from the same anti-Houthi coalition that clash in the second largest city of Yemen. Fights between separatists fighting for independence from southern Yemen and supported by the United Arab Emirates in the pro-government coalition led by Saudi Arabia. Two allies become opponents and will have interest to silence their differences.

This Saturday, August 10, the southern separatists seized the presidential palace of Aden that the coalition is now trying to resume. Saudi Arabia conducted early on Sunday (August 11th) strikes in Aden against separatists from southern Yemen, believed to be its allies, after fighting with 40 dead plunge the country into chaos.

What about these divisions within the anti-Houthi coalition? " There have already been several cycles of violence between these two forces," says Franck Mermier, research director at the CNRS and former director of the French Center for Yemeni Studies in Sanaa. It should also be noted that the southern separatist forces are supported by the United Arab Emirates and the Saudi air force has intervened to loosen the encirclement of the presidential palace in Aden. Today, Aden is totally controlled by the separatist forces, and this divergence breaks out in broad daylight . "

► Read also: [Analysis] Yemen: understanding such a long conflict

The Houthis, the common enemy

These clashes came in addition to the main war that has been raging for nearly five years between the Shiite Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. To (re) face their common "enemy", Emiratis and Saudis are bound to agree. " It is likely that it will have a modus vivendi that will be created between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates so that both the UAE can continue its policy of influence in southern Yemen and that Arabia Saudi Arabia still retains the fiction of a legal power maintained in its regions, even if the reality of power is held by the separatists including Aden , analysis Franck Mermier.

The circumstances surrounding the outbreak of hostilities between separatists and government units remain unclear, but separatist officials accused the Islamist Al-Islah party of killing one of their commanders. And according to them, Al-Islah infiltrated the Hadi government, held at arm's length politically and financially by Saudi Arabia. For its part, the Yemeni Foreign Ministry has accused the UAE of being " responsible for the coup " in Aden.

Interview between King Salman and President Hadi

The situation is very tense, but the allies of yesterday, enemies today, should become friends again, according to Franck Mermier. " It is hard to believe that these two allies will not try to overcome their differences in the sense that their alliance is very important in the conduct of the war in Yemen. (...) So, there is an ambivalent, ambiguous game even between these two allies of the coalition. It will be necessary to see these next days how they will manage to maintain the fiction of this Arab coalition which is supposed to support the president Hadi ".

The situation in Yemen was at the center of a meeting Sunday in Mecca between the Saudi King Salman and President Hadi, in the presence of the Saudi Minister of the Interior and the Chief of Intelligence. " King Salman met with the President of Yemen. During the meeting, they reviewed the close relations between the two sister countries, discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly in Yemen, and various efforts to achieve security and stability, "tweeted the ministry. Saudi Foreign Office.

#Mina | @KingSalman puts with Yemen's President. During the meeting, they discussed the relationship between the two countries, especially on Yemen, and the various efforts towards achieving security and stability. pic.twitter.com/qpoFDYR8N5

Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) August 11, 2019

Due to the war raging between the Houthis and the rebel camp, Yemen is already experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Nearly 80% of the total population, or 24.1 million people, need assistance, according to the United Nations.

►Also read: the war in Yemen, diplomatic and military fields