Mediation hopes rise in Yemen

Turkiye's offer to facilitate a dialogue to bring together battling factions in Yemen raises hopes of easing and ending tensions that have left at least 80 fighters from the secessionist Southern Transitional Council, or STC, dead since Friday.

In a phone call with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was "ready to contribute to efforts aimed at bringing parties together", his office said in a statement.

Erdogan said that Turkiye "is closely following" developments in Yemen and underscored the importance of safeguarding the country's territorial integrity, the statement added.

The offer came one day after the Saudi Foreign Ministry called on Yemen's southern factions to attend a "dialogue" in Riyadh — a proposal welcomed by the United Arab Emirates-backed STC. The positive response signals that all sides may now view negotiation as the eventual path to resolving the latest round of hostilities.

Yemen's internationally recognized government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, launched operations on Friday to retake swaths of territory seized by the STC, as a struggle for dominance between different factions deepened a rift between Gulf allies.

The Saudi-backed National Shield Forces spread across Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout Governorate, on Sunday after retaking the port city, which was seized by the STC last month.

Video footage obtained by The Associated Press showed the government forces being welcomed by residents as the troops drove through streets in armed vehicles.

Ahmed Samaan and Bakr al-Ketheri, residents of the Hadramout towns of al-Qatn and Seiyun, told the AP that the STC had withdrawn from military camps.

On Sunday, the ruling Presidential Leadership Council accused the STC of cutting off the port city of Aden and warned it would "take all necessary measures" after recapturing territory from them in the east on Saturday.

The STC denied the claim, but the government's accusations indicate that hostility between the sides persists despite proposals for a dialogue that had raised hopes of a negotiated solution to the crisis.

Escalating tensions

Last month, tensions between the Yemeni government and the STC escalated after the latter seized large parts of Hadramout and Al-Mahrah governorates, areas proximate to the border with Saudi Arabia and concentrating Yemen's remaining energy resources.

In response, Riyadh threw its support behind the internationally recognized Yemeni government, launching a large-scale military operation marked by intensified air and ground strikes.

An STC military official told Agence France-Presse on Sunday that more than 80 separatist fighters had been killed since Friday, with more than 150 wounded and 130 taken captive. Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes launched airstrikes in eastern Yemen's Al-Mahrah, as the Presidential Leadership Council forces were consolidating positions in Mukalla.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when Houthi forces captured the capital Sanaa and large swaths of the north, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015.

Formed in 2017, the STC seeks self-determination and eventual independence for southern Yemen. Despite joining the coalition and integrating into the Presidential Leadership Council in 2022, the group continued to push for southern sovereignty, leading to recurring disputes over power-sharing and control of resources.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.