UAE-backed force expanding reach in south Yemen, say officials

Yemeni security officials have said local forces backed by the UAE are expanding their reach in the country's south, where they have clashed with forces loyal to the internationally-recognised president.

The officials said on Monday that hundreds of "Security Belt" fighters - trained and financed by the UAE - have deployed in Dhale province, said sources speaking on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorised to brief the press.

The UAE is part of the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Houthi rebels on behalf of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Anu Dhabi has been at odds with Hadi for months with both sides maintaining separate security forces based in the southern city of Aden, which have clashed several times recently.

Deadly clashes in Aden last month saw UAE-backed southern separatists seize much of the strategic coastal city from the Saudi-backed government.

The armed uprising has dimmed the prospect of the two would-be allies joining forces against the Houthis.

Yemeni minister Saleh al-Jabwani accused the UAE of trying to fragment the country by creating separate "regional and tribal armies" in the south.

Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war since 2015, with the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis to restore the internationally recognised government to power.

The UN has labelled Yemen the world's worst humanitarian disaster, tallying more than 9,200 fatalities since the Saudi-led coalition intervened.

Malnutrition, cholera, and other diseases have spread, and millions have come to depend on humanitarian assistance for survival.