Joint Saudi-Emirate delegation in Aden for talks after STC takeover

A joint Saudi-Emirati military delegation arrived in Aden to discuss measures aimed at defusing tensions in southern Yemen days after the Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatist group claimed broad control across the south, a government source told Reuters on Friday.

The STC said the takeover included the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahra, and that it is present in all eastern provinces of south Yemen, including Aden, the base of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government.

Yemen's internationally recognised government said on Friday at least 32 security personnel were killed and 45 wounded in eastern province of Hadhramaut attacks by STC-affiliated groups.

Discussions to be held by the delegation in Aden will address ways to rectify recent unilateral actions, including the withdrawal of any forces brought in from outside the eastern provinces, a source in the presidential office told the state news agency SABA.

The STC, which has been backed in the past by the United Arab Emirates during Yemen's decade-old civil war, has clashed with other groups, which relocated to Aden after the Iran-aligned Houthi movement captured the capital Sanaa in 2014.