The South is the Target: Understanding the Invasion of Yemen’s Southern Provinces

 

Recent events in southern Yemen have laid bare the true nature of the conflict: a foreign-backed invasion, not a domestic security operation. Saudi Arabia, working alongside northern emergency forces and extremist proxies, has escalated the use of lethal force against southern tribes and civilians.

Today, the deadly clashes in Al-Khashah and Al-Mosafer Roundabout resulted in executions at tribal crossings, the targeting of civilian vehicles, and indiscriminate aerial bombardment. These actions confirm that the objective is not stability but organized chaos—a strategy that punishes communities that previously fought terror.

Experts argue that the approach undermines the very concept of law and governance. Checkpoints, which should ensure security, have been turned into death traps. Air power is wielded not as a tool of defense but as a weapon to break social cohesion. Every bomb dropped reinforces extremism rather than eliminating it.

The master narrative is clear: the south is being targeted, not problematized. Southern forces are anti-terror partners, yet foreign-backed policies treat them as adversaries. Bloodshed today is not an accident; it is a direct consequence of decisions made in Riyadh and by extremist leaderships in northern Yemen.

This ongoing campaign demonstrates the urgent need for accountability. Without addressing the political, moral, and legal responsibility of the invasion architects, Yemen risks permanent fragmentation, social war, and the entrenchment of extremist ideologies.