In four crucial days, Yemeni legitimacy lost its second capital

Yemen's internationally recognized legitimate government has lost control of the second (temporary) capital of Aden to the forces of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council after four days of fierce fighting between the two sides amid almost complete silence from the Saudi-UAE alliance.

After the Transitional Council forces took control of key vital facilities in Yemen's interim capital, including the Maasheq presidential palace in Aden, Saudi Arabia intervened to call on the warring parties to engage in dialogue, declare a ceasefire and threaten violators.

Decisive days
The following are the most important stations that took place during the last four days, which are decisive in the future of the Yemeni state.

- Clashes between the two sides began last Wednesday, shooting near the presidential palace in the Crater district of Aden, after the funeral of the dead of shelling on the evacuation camp, including the leader of the militia of the security belt Munir al-Yafi known as "Abu Yamamah."

- The following day (Thursday) the clashes between the forces of the Presidential Protection Brigades on the one hand and the armed men of the UAE-backed security belt and tribal militants on the other hand, and spread to the Khor Maksar neighborhood and Jabal Hadid camp, and used tanks and heavy weapons.

- In the third day of clashes , the death toll has risen to 13, and media sources have reported that the Presidential Protection Forces took control of large parts of the Crater area in the city of Aden, amid the decline of the forces of the UAE-backed Transitional Council.

- On the fourth day, the scene was completely reversed with the announcement of the control of the UAE-backed Transitional Council forces on the presidential palace of Maasheq in Aden (southern Yemen), as well as control of vital military sites and vital facilities in the province, after days of battles with legitimate government forces.

What after the military discount?
Following the announcement of the decision of the Transitional Council forces to fight in their favor, the positions followed rapidly, the most prominent of which were as follows:

Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami described the armed clashes in Aden as a coup led by the Southern Transitional Council.

The official account of the Yemeni Foreign Ministry on Twitter quoted Hadrami as saying that what is happening in the interim capital Aden by the Transitional Council is a coup against the legitimate state institutions that the coalition came to Yemen to restore and support, after the Houthi coup in 2014.

The Yemeni Foreign Ministry, in a statement on behalf of the Republic of Yemen, blamed the UAE and the Southern Transitional Council on the consequences of the coup against legitimacy in Aden, and called on the UAE to stop its material and military support for what the rebel groups called the state.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry has called on the Yemeni government and all parties, including the conflict in Aden, to hold an urgent meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss the differences and stop what it called sedition and unification, the first official comment on the developments in the province.

- The UAE, Saudi Arabia's main partner in the military alliance, called for "calm and non-escalation".

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a statement that his country "as an active partner in the Arab coalition ... is exerting all efforts to calm and not escalate in Aden, and in urging to mobilize efforts against the Houthi coup and its repercussions."

- The Saudi-UAE alliance entered the line to announce targeting one of the areas it said posed a direct threat to the Yemeni government without identifying its location, Al-Ikhbariya reported.

The coalition has warned of repeated targeting of those areas and the use of force against violators to call for a ceasefire in Aden, which began at 1 am on Saturday night local time.

The coalition demanded the immediate withdrawal of military components and formations from the Transitional Council and the security belt forces, from the positions they controlled.

Humanitarian crisis
The Washington Post quoted Yemeni security sources as saying that four days of fighting in Aden have killed about 70 people so far.

- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it had received 119 casualties in its hospital in Aden, 62 of them critically, requiring emergency intervention.

- Most of the wounded are civilians and the hospital is unable to cope with the number of wounded, said Caroline Sogan, MSF's Yemen project officer, adding that some staff are unable to reach the hospital due to intense fighting and banditry.

- Hundreds of families have been displaced from Aden governorate due to violent clashes between the legitimate government forces and the security belt.

- The Yemeni Ministry of Health issued an appeal to enable medical staff to reach areas and neighborhoods, to help the injured and remove the dead bodies from Aden.