By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
Yemen, 8 January 2026 Aidarous al-Zubaidi, leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), fled southern Yemen on Wednesday night, traveling via Somaliland before arriving in the United Arab Emirates, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government gas said.
Coalition spokesperson Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki said on Thursday that al-Zubaidi and several associates departed Aden by ship after midnight, disabling the vessel’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) to evade detection. The delegation arrived at the port of Berbera, Somaliland, around noon local time.
According to the coalition, al-Zubaidi contacted a UAE military officer upon arrival and was transferred onto an Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft, which first landed at Mogadishu International Airport before departing toward the Arabian Gulf. The plane’s transponder was reportedly deactivated over the Gulf of Oman and reactivated shortly before landing at Al-Reef Military Airport in Abu Dhabi at 8:47 p.m. Saudi time.
The coalition said it continues to track other individuals who were reportedly among the last to meet al-Zubaidi in Aden, including former Aden Governor Ahmed Hamed Lamlas and local security chief Mohsen al-Wali, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
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The sudden departure of al-Zubaidi comes amid intensified coalition and government airstrikes on STC positions in southern Yemen, highlighting growing tensions between allied factions in the region.
