The Saudi ambassador to Yemen says the UAE-allied separatists operating in conflict-ridden country refused landing permission for a plane carrying a delegation from Saudi Arabia to the port city of Aden.

The UAE has called for “restraint and wisdom” after Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes on Yemen's port city of Mukalla, accusing Abu Dhabi of supporting a separatist offensive in the country's east.

The Saudi-led military coalition says it would respond directly and immediately to any military movements by the Aden-based and pro-secession Southern Transitional Council (STC) that undermine de-escalation efforts.

The spokesman for Yemen's Ansarullah says the US-proposed ceasefire plan offers nothing new as the UN has already made such proposals.

The so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC) militants, backed by the United Arab Emirates, have arbitrarily detained and possibly tortured a Yemeni journalist since last September, the Human Rights Watch says.

In 2019, it was revealed that the United Arab Emirates had turned Yemen's Balhaf gas facility into a secret prison.

Saudi-backed Yemeni militants and rival separatist forces sponsored by the UAE have agreed to share power in the country’s south as part of an agreement brokered by Riyadh.