YEMEN – The Saudi-led Joint Forces Coalition said on Thursday Jan. 8 that Southern Transitional Council (STC) head Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi had escaped from southern Yemen.

The coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki Al-Malki said in a statement that Aidarus Al-Zoubaidi and others had “escaped in the dead of night” aboard a vessel heading towards Somaliland.

According to the statement, Al-Zoubaidi and several others escaped aboard the vessel BAMEDHAF from Aden after disabling its identification systems.

The ship later docked at the port of Berbera.

The spokesman said Al-Zoubaidi later contacted an officer identified as Maj. Gen. Awad Saeed bin Musleh Al-Hababi, the commander of the joint operations of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, to notify him of his arrival.

After this communication, Al-Zoubaidi and his companions boarded an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft, flight MZB-9102, which departed without announcing its destination.

The aircraft landed at Mogadishu International Airport at 3.15 pm (1215GMT), stayed on the ground for roughly an hour, and then departed again at 4.17 pm (1317GMT), heading toward the Arabian Gulf.

The coalition spokesman stated that the aircraft turned off its identification systems while flying over the Gulf of Oman, reactivating them shortly before landing at Al Reef military airport in Abu Dhabi at 8.47 pm (1747GMT).

The statement also noted that maritime records indicate the vessel BAMEDHAF is registered under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis – the same flag flown by the vessel GREENLAND, which previously transported military vehicles and weapons from Fujairah to the port of Mukalla.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia accused the UAE of pushing STC forces to carry out military operations along the kingdom’s southern border in Hadhramaut and Mahra. Abu Dhabi denied the accusation.

On Friday, Zoubaidi announced a two-year “transitional phase” that would include dialogue with parties in southern Yemen and a “referendum” on the future of the south.

The STC says successive Yemeni governments have marginalized southern regions politically and economically and calls for secession.

Yemeni authorities reject the claim and reaffirm their commitment to the country’s unity.