Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemen Port Over Shipment of Weapons From UAE

Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen's port city of Mukalla on Tuesday over what it described as a shipment of weapons for a separatist force there that arrived from the United Arab Emirates. 

The UAE did not immediately acknowledge the strike. The attack signals a new escalation in tensions between the kingdom and the separatist forces of the Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the Emirates. 

It



also further strains ties between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which had been backing competing sides in Yemen's decadelong war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels amid a moment of unease across the wider Red Sea region.

Yemen's anti-Houthi forces later declared a state of emergency Tuesday. It issued a 72-hour ban on all border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia.