UAE-backed militia captures Yemeni city in oil-rich province

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) backed militia has captured the key Yemeni city of Seiyun. In a statement, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) congratulated “the people of the south on the liberation of Wadi Hadhramaut” The militia insisted that their actions:

came in response to the demands of the people … after what they had suffered during three decades from terrorist operations, security disturbances, smuggling of contraband, in addition to injustice in rights and public property.

Seiyun is in the province of Hadhramaut. According to the Middle East Eye, the province “makes up about a third of Yemen’s territory, and holds 80 percent of the country’s modest oil reserves”.

Foreign interests are driving the conflict. Specifically a clash between Saudi-backed and UAE-backed groups. Neither is short of oil reserves, but they are fighting a war for influence in Yemen.

An anonymous official told The National:

We are aiming at controlling all of Hadhramaut.

Or, more accurately, it would appear that the UAE is attempting to establish control over the region’s oil.

UAE’s proxy war in Yemen

Earlier, on 27th October, the Saudi-backed Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance released a statement warning that the STC assault was coming. They described it as a:

clear attempt to control the governorate and its oil reserves.

The alliance stressed that:

‘external’ elements have already started to establish themselves in vital locations, take over camps, and isolate local leaders in the province.

The Cradle describes the Alliance as being “formed over a decade ago”:

Earlier this year, it set up an armed force known as the Hadhramaut Protection Forces, with the aim of protecting the province from what it says are threats to its natural resources. The group, aligned with the Saudi-led PLC, has taken control of several oil fields and transport routes in Hadhramaut since June 2025.

Open source analyst Rich Tedd identified large amounts of UAE-supplied military equipment in STC hands:

I’ve identified a LARGE amount of UAE-supplied 🇦🇪 military equipment with these STC forces, including Chinese 155mm AH-4 howitzers — the same systems the UAE provided to the RSF in Sudan 🇸🇩. The UAE originally purchased this artillery from China in late 2019. 9/ pic.twitter.com/sfKc9VNfax

— Rich Tedd 🛰 ✈️ (@AfriMEOSINT) November 29, 2025

UAE’s regional influence plans

A 2 October report by Middle East Eye described UAE’s regional ambitions. The US ally, deeply involved in a genocide in Sudan, has built large military facilities in the Gulf of Aden:

This ring of control, in and around one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has escalated rapidly since the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Israeli officers have been on the ground in the islands and Israeli radar systems and other military and security apparatus allow the UAE to monitor and thwart attacks launched by the Houthis…

None of the bases, which are in Yemen and Somalia, are “constructed on territory formally held by the UAE“. Rather, they are in territory controlled by regional allies. This is another example of the nexus of foreign interests at play. Currently, they align in Seiyun. And while the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the ones on the ground, the US and Israel are no doubt in the mix as well.

Featured image via the Canary