Dec 9 (Reuters) – Yemen’s southern separatists have claimed control over swathes of territory in an apparent major shift in power that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war after a long lull, raising new uncertainties in a country near important sea routes.

The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), backed in the past by the United Arab Emirates, says it has taken over the eastern provinces of Hadhramaut and Mahra and is now firmly established across all provinces ‍of the former state of South Yemen.

The STC has been an important part of the coalition fighting alongside the internationally-recognised government against the Houthi movement, which holds Yemen’s capital Sanaa and the heavily populated northwest.

WHY HAS YEMEN FALLEN APART?

Yemen, situated between Saudi Arabia

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