Yemen: Al-Zubaidi's Escape and Preemptive Strikes by the Coalition Against the Transitional Council

SadaNews - The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced that the President of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, did not board the flight to Riyadh and has escaped to an unknown location, despite being officially informed of the necessity to attend within 48 hours to participate in Saudi-sponsored talks aimed at containing the escalation in the south.

The official spokesperson for the coalition, Lt. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki, stated that the coalition leadership informed Al-Zubaidi on January 4, 2026 of the need to travel to the Kingdom to meet with the Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, and the coalition leadership to discuss the reasons for the escalation and the attack launched by the Transitional Council forces on the governorates of Hadhramaut and Al-Mahra.

Al-Maliki clarified that Al-Zubaidi confirmed his attendance on January 6, and a delegation from the Transitional Council proceeded to the airport, where the departure of the Yemeni Airlines flight carrying the delegation was delayed for more than three hours.

During this time, information became available to the legitimate government and the coalition indicating that Al-Zubaidi was mobilizing large forces, including armored vehicles, combat vehicles, heavy and light weapons, and ammunition, from the Hadid and Al-Suwailah camps towards Al-Dhalea governorate just before midnight.

He added that the flight later departed with several leaders of the Transitional Council on board, without its president Aidarus Al-Zubaidi, who disappeared and left council members and leaders without any information about his whereabouts.

The spokesperson noted that Al-Zubaidi distributed weapons and ammunition to dozens of elements within the city of Aden, led by Momen Al-Sakaaf and Mukhtar Al-Nubi, with the aim of creating security disturbances within the city.

As a result, Vice President of the Presidential Leadership Council Abdulrahman Al-Mahrmi requested that the National Shield Forces and coalition forces impose security and prevent any clashes within Aden, to preserve the lives and properties of civilians.

Al-Maliki indicated that coalition forces monitored the movements of the forces exiting from the camps and captured them as they were positioning themselves in buildings close to Al-Zand camp in Al-Dhalea governorate, where limited preemptive strikes were carried out at dawn today in coordination with legitimate government forces and the National Shield, aimed at disrupting those forces and thwarting attempts to expand the conflict into Al-Dhalea.

The coalition affirmed its commitment to working with the Yemeni government and local authorities in Aden to support security and stability and confront any forces targeting cities and civilians, urging residents to stay away from camps and military gatherings in Aden and Al-Dhalea for their safety.

Al-Zubaidi was scheduled to lead a delegation from the Southern Transitional Council to Saudi Arabia to participate in the upcoming Riyadh conference, which aims to hold a dialogue among the components of southern Yemen, after the council previously announced its readiness to participate in the conference, praising the efforts of the Kingdom to make it successful.