The Hadramawt Standoff: Tribal Autonomy, External Patronage, and the Future of Yemen’s Oil Corridor
Smuggling, Counterterrorism, or Expansion What Is Behind the Power Struggle in Hadramawt
In late 2025, Hadramawt stopped being a quiet backwater in Yemen’s long war and became the place where almost every national fault line now intersects. At the center stand Amr bin Habreesh and the Hadramawt Protection Forces (HPF), a tribal-based coalition rooted in the Hadramawt Tribes Confederacy (HTC). Opposing them are forces backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and aligned with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), including the Hadrami Elite Forces (HEF) and the Security Support Brigade (SSB) under Brigadier General Saleh bin Al Sheikh Abu Bakr, widely known as Abu Ali Al Hadrami. Circling these rival blocs are Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Houthis, and a weakened internationally recognized government (IRG), each with its own ambitions.
The central question is what this confrontation is truly about. Is it, as some STC-UAE narratives claim, an operation to dismantle alleged smuggling networks associated with Bin Habreesh and impose tighter control over cross-desert smuggling routes? Is it a counterterrorism push aimed at containing renewed AQAP activity in the Wadi and along the key oil corridors? Or is it, as many Hadramis now fear, a broader STC-UAE effort to extend full control over all of Hadramawt ahead of any future settlement with the Houthis?
