This image grab taken from an AFPTV video shows Yemeni pro-government forces firing a heavy machine gun at the south of Hodeida airport, in Yemen's Hodeida province on June 15, 2018. As the year wraps up, the combatants in Yemen have been engaging in the first meaningful peace talks over the civil war in two years.
In January, the Southern Transition Council (STC), a group pushing for an independent state in southern Yemen and aligned with the United Arab Emirates, seized the southern city of Aden from the Hadi government. The actions of the STC, a member of the anti-Houthi coalition, demonstrate the chimeric nature of the country's groups and alliances. The Saudi-led coalition does not need to retake Aden to ensure its military position. The STC has already made clear that it will continue to support the anti-Houthi struggle. Instead, the coalition must mitigate the damage from the clash and negotiate a truce as quickly as possible. In December 2017, the Houthis split with (former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah) Saleh, who was subsequently assassinated. The move divided and weakened the rebel alliance, providing an opening for opposition forces — to change the course of the stalled civil war in the coalition's favor.
