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Deadly clashes erupt within the ranks of the militants fighting on behalf of the Saudi-led coalition against the Yemeni government. A number of people have been killed and many more wounded as southern Yemeni separatists fought armed men loyal to former president Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi in the southern city of Aden for the second day in a row. Separatist forces seized some areas in what a former official described as an attempted coup. The fighting has deepened a rift between those who have been on the same side against the Yemeni government and Ansarullah movement. The clashes pit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against each other as they support the opposing sides in this new conflict which has brewed within a wider war.

The fighting in the Yemeni city of Aden broke out after the end of a deadline set last week by separatists from the so-called Southern Transitional Council for Hadi to dismiss the loyalist government. The separatists accuse Hadi’s loyalists of corruption and mismanagement—a charge they deny. The separatists also want the return of the independent South Yemen that existed before 1990. They support Hadi's forces against Ansarullah movement and the government in the capital Sana’a.

But tensions between the two sides have risen in recent months. The tensions threaten to lead to the collapse of the Saudi-led coalition which is already under strain over its war on Yemen which is seen by many as futile and inhumane. Saudi Arabia and its allies have been pounding Yemen with massive airstrikes since March 2015. The war has left thousands of Yemenis dead, many of them civilians. It has also heavily damaged Yemen’s infrastructure. The Saudis have so far resisted international calls to end their attacks on Yemen. As for the pro-secession moves in Yemen’s south, it’s highly unlikely that the government in Sana’a will allow the nation’s territorial integrity to be damaged. This can be told from the stiff resistance Yemenis have put up against the Saudi-led invasion of their country.