Yemen Separatists Seize Remote Socotra Island From Saudi-Backed Government

Yemen Separatists Seize Remote Socotra Island From Saudi-Backed Government
Hadibu city on the capital island of Socotra on Nov. 21, 2013. Mohamed al-Sayaghi/Reuters, File Photo
|Updated:

ADEN—Southern separatists have seized control of Yemen’s island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, deposing its governor and driving out forces of the Saudi-backed government which condemned the action as coup.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self rule in the south in April, complicating U.N. efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in a war that has separatists and the government fighting as nominal allies in a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi group, who control the north.