News - Yemen: Widespread security chaos and large-scale looting have engulfed Yemen’s eastern governorates of Hadramout and Al-Mahrah in recent days, following the withdrawal of factions affiliated with the so-called Southern Transitional Council loyal to the Emirati enemy and the takeover by tools of the Saudi occupation, local reports said.

Hadrami activists on social media said the unrest was accompanied by looting, killings, robberies and executions unprecedented in Hadramout’s history, accusing Islah militias of responsibility. 

Meanwhile, media outlets aligned with mercenaries reported that the Saudi enemy and its militias failed from the outset to impose security after entering Hadramout and Al-Mahrah, with cities and military camps turning into open arenas for pillage and vandalism—exposing what they described as the destructive role of the Saudi-Emirati aggression and its proxies, despite claims of “restoring security.”

Military camps and brigades were subjected to comprehensive looting, including weapons, ammunition and heavy equipment, alongside vandalism of facilities belonging to various factions, amid what observers described as silence and collusion by Saudi enemy forces and tools of the traitorous, client government. 

The looting also targeted sovereign buildings, government facilities and public and private property in Mukalla and several districts, in the absence of any genuine measures to protect civilians or their assets.

The disorder extended to sovereign resources, with local sources reporting the seizure of several oil wells in the Wadi and Desert districts—an alarming sign, they said, that the Saudi enemy and its tools aim not only at military control but also at plundering national wealth and turning it into spoils of conflict, as seen in other areas entered by aggression forces.

Activists circulated video footage showing the random removal of weapons and equipment from looted camps and their transport by vehicles and trucks, scenes reflecting the scale of the breakdown created by Saudi enemy forces and mercenary authorities and exposing what critics called the falsity of their claims.

Concern has also been voiced over large quantities of highly dangerous ammunition entering residential neighborhoods after arms depots were looted, raising fears of an impending humanitarian and security disaster for which the Saudi enemy and its tools bear full responsibility.

In Al-Mahrah, the Al-Ghaydah Military Axis headquarters was looted following the withdrawal of STC factions, reinforcing accounts that the chaos is a direct outcome of the takeover by Saudi occupation forces and their proxies, and of agenda conflicts between the Emirati and Saudi enemies—described by local commentators as executors of the American-Zionist project in the region.

Hadramout and Al-Mahrah are key Yemeni governorates due to their oil, ports, and strategic location. Over the years of aggression, Saudi and Emirati occupation forces have used local militias to control the regions, often causing chaos and lawlessness. Past attempts at “security restoration” under foreign-backed factions have repeatedly failed, leaving cities vulnerable to looting and instability.

Analysts say the current takeover continues a pattern of US-Israeli-backed exploitation, targeting resources and weakening local governance, putting civilians at risk.