2025 Hadhramaut offensive

2025 Hadhramaut offensive
Part of the Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
Map of control in Hadhramaut as of 3 December 2025   Controlled by the Southern Transitional Council   Controlled by the Government of Yemen
Date 2 December 2025 – present Location Hadhramaut Governorate, Yemen Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Southern Transitional Council	Government of Yemen Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance
Commanders and leaders
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi Abu Ali al-Hadhrami	Saleh al-Ja'imlani Amr Bin Habrish
Units involved
Southern Armed Forces 14th Lightning Brigade 5th Support and Reinforcement Brigade Barshid Brigade Hadhrami Elite Forces Shabwah Defence Forces[1]	Yemeni Armed Forces  Yemeni Land Forces 1st Military Region 23rd Mechanized Brigade[2] 11th Border Guard Brigade[3] Hadhramaut Protection Forces
Casualties and losses
Per STC: 12 fighters killed[4]	unknown

On 2 December 2025, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) launched a military offensive in the Hadhramaut Governorate, which was then under the control of the internationally-recognized government of Yemen. The STC moved in and captured several areas belonging to the government in the northern Wadi Hadhramaut area, including the main cities of Seiyun and Tarim. The STC refers to the offensive as "Operation Promising Future".^[5]

Background

Further information: Yemeni civil war (2014–present)

Yemen has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war since 2014. In fighting the Houthis, who control most of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa, the internationally-recognized government, along with the Saudi-led coalition, partnered with the secessionist Southern Movement, which, since 2017 has been dominated by the Southern Transitional Council (STC). Although officially a component of the government, the STC, which receives extensive support and funding from the United Arab Emirates, independently controls and administers most of southern Yemen and continues to voice its intentions to secede and establish a proposed federal "State of South Arabia".^[6][7]

Hadhramaut is Yemen's largest governorate, covering around a third of the country while holding nearly 80% of its oil reserves and other valuable minerals.^[8] Control over the territory had previously been split between the STC on the southern coast and the Yemeni government further north, in an area known as Wadi Hadhramaut (Hadhramaut Valley). The STC had claimed that Wadi Hadhramaut had become rife with smuggling operations benefitting the Houthis, along with local Islamist groups.^[9]

Prelude

Tensions had been rising in Hadhramaut since November 2025 between the STC and the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance, a Saudi-backed group led by Amr bin Habrish. On 29 November, the Hadhramaut Protection Forces, the military wing of the tribal alliance, deployed around the Masila oil fields in Hadhramaut belonging to PetroMasila, the largest oil company in Yemen, in order to "defend national resources from any potential aggression or the external interference" according to Habrish. In response, the STC began a buildup of its military forces in Hadhramaut.^[9][8]

Offensive

2 December

On 2 December, a large number of Southern Movement troops started advancing north through the Sah District, and by the end of the day they were a few tens of kilometres from Seiyun.^[10]

3 December

The offensive in Wadi Hadhramaut was initiated by the STC's Southern Armed Forces on the morning of 3 December, led by the Hadhrami Elite Forces.^[11][12] In Seiyun, STC forces were positioned in the Jathma area before launching a bombardment against the headquarters of the 1st Military Region in the city.^[13] Brief clashes were reported between the STC and the 1st Military Region of the Yemeni army, including at the presidential palace and the Seiyun International Airport.^[12] Within hours of fighting, STC personnel captured several positions and government facilities from the 1st Military Region,^[14] leading to the latter withdrawing its forces. From there, STC forces were able to capture Seiyun and spread throughout the Wadi Hadhramaut, taking several other towns and military bases.^[6] By the end of the day, STC forces had captured nearly every strategically significant area in Wadi Hadhramaut, including Seiyun and its airport, the 1st Military Region headquarters, Tarim, Al-Qatn, Hawra', Al-Raddood and Al-Khasha'a.^[14][15]

Meanwhile in the Arma district of Shabwa governorate, STC forces claimed they had taken control of "a camp belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood" in the Arin desert.^[15]

STC forces were reportedly seen equipped with Emirati armoured vehicles and Chinese 155mm AH-4 howitzers, which the UAE has supplied to other proxies.^[12] Four deaths were reported among STC fighters from the 14th Lightning Brigade, 5th Support and Reinforcement Brigade, and Barshid Brigade.^[16] Casualties were also reportedly inflicted on Yemeni forces.^[12]

4 December

During the early hours of 4 December, STC forces seized the PetroMasila facility and surrounding military positions from the Hadhramaut Tribal Alliance. The alliance withdrew from the area as part of a Saudi-backed agreement, though the STC reported the deaths of four of their soldiers in small-scale clashes in the area.^[17] Southern forces seized, without a fight, the capital of the Al-Mahrah governorate, Al Ghaydah as well as the port of Nishtun.^[relevant?] In Hadramawt, they announced the capture of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade in the Al Abr area of ​​Wadi Hadhramaut and the 11th Border Guard Brigade at the Rama camp.^[18]

See also

• Southern Transitional Council takeover of Socotra
• 2022 Southern Yemen offensive

References

1. "الانتقالي الجنوبي يتوسع في حضرموت اليمنية". اندبندنت عربية. 3 December 2025.
2. "Changes in the equations in eastern Yemen; Al-Mahra fell into the hands of UAE-backed forces without a conflict | AVA". Afghan Voice Agency (AVA). 4 December 2025.
3. "Changes in the equations in eastern Yemen; Al-Mahra fell into the hands of UAE-backed forces without a conflict | AVA". Afghan Voice Agency (AVA). 4 December 2025.
4. "Live Coverage: "Promising Future" — Southern Forces Expand Across Hadramout and Al-Mahra". 5 December 2025.
5. Toomey, Bridget (4 December 2025). "Southern Transitional Council seizes key areas of Yemen's Hadramawt Governorate from rival government forces". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
6. Al-Batati, Saeed; Nereim, Vivian (3 December 2025). "Separatist Forces Backed by U.A.E. Sweep Into Oil-Rich Yemen Region". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
7. Wajdi, Izzat (6 October 2025). "حل الدولتين.. في اليمن" [The two-state solution... in Yemen]. الحرة (in Arabic). Retrieved 4 December 2025. القطيعة مع فكرة يمن موحد، حسب الزبيدي، "ستكون نهائية. لن يحمل اسم الدولة القادمة حتى كلمة اليمن". "دولة الجنوب العربي" هو الأكثر قبولاً لدى أنصار المجلس الانتقالي، وهو اسم قديم يعود إلى الاتحاد الذي أنشأه المستعمر البريطاني عند توحيده عددا من المشيخات والسلطنات في الجنوب قبل الاستقلال عام 1967. [The break with the idea of a unified Yemen, according to Al-Zubaidi, "will be final. The name of the future state will not even include the word Yemen." "The State of South Arabia" is the most acceptable name among supporters of the Transitional Council. It is an old name that dates back to the union created by the British colonists when they unified a number of sheikhdoms and sultanates in the south before independence in 1967.]
8. Farhat, Beatrice (4 December 2025). "Yemen's STC separatists advance in Hadramout as UAE-Saudi rift grows". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
9. Toomey, Bridget (4 December 2025). "Southern Transitional Council seizes key areas of Yemen's Hadramawt Governorate from rival government forces". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
10. "Major Shift in Hadramout: Southern Forces Advance to Secure the "Vally"". south24.net. 2 December 2025.
11. "Armed clashes reported between Yemeni army and southern separatists". Al Jazeera. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
12. Uddin, Rayhan (3 December 2025). "Yemen's UAE-backed STC seizes control of city in Hadhramaut offensive". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
13. "حضرموت: قوات موالية للمجلس الانتقالي الجنوبي باليمن تسيطر على مواقع نفطية" [Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council in Yemen seize oil sites in Hadramawt]. BBC News Arabic (in Arabic). 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
14. "Live Coverage: Southern forces secure the city of Seiyun in Hadramout". South24 Center. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
15. "Fuerzas respaldadas por EAU toman ciudades clave en provincia yemení en una gran ofensiva" [UAE-backed forces seize key cities in Yemeni province in major offensive]. SWI swissinfo (in Spanish). EFE. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
16. "استشهاد أربعة من أبطال القوات المسلحة الجنوبية في معركة تحرير وادي حضرموت" [Four heroes of the Southern Armed Forces were martyred in the battle to liberate Wadi Hadramawt]. Shabwa Press (in Arabic). 3 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
17. Uddin, Rayhan (4 December 2025). "UAE-backed forces raise South Yemen flag as they push east". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
18. "Changes in the equations in eastern Yemen; Al-Mahra fell into the hands of UAE-backed forces without a conflict | AVA". Afghan Voice Agency (AVA). 4 December 2025.