Yemen’s south witnessed a surprising, but not entirely unpredictable, incident last month when the United Arab Emirates — a member of a pro-government military coalition fighting Houthi rebels in the north — carried out a series of deadly airstrikes in Aden that targeted Yemen’s national army. In doing so, the UAE was seen as turning away from the government it was meant to support in favor of a southern Yemeni separatist faction.

Yemen’s President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called on Saudi Arabia to intervene to stop what he deemed UAE interference. The event brought unprecedented attention to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), whose aim is to reestablish an independent southern state along the pre-1990 borders of the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. While the voices of secessionists and STC supporters are amplified over social media and in massive rallies in Aden, southerners who call for unity and national sovereignty are less likely to make headlines.

One such southerner is the chief sheikh of the island of Socotra, Issa Salem bin Yaqut, who concluded on Sept. 25 a weeklong trip to Washington, where he spoke with members of Congress about the situation in Yemen, especially in his region of influence: the Socotra archipelago and the eastern province of al-Mahra. Bin Yaqut spoke with Al-Monitor about some of the threats he sees in southern Yemen due to Saudi and Emirati presence.

Bin Yaqut, who supports the internationally recognized government of Hadi, is open in saying that the Saudi-led coalition lost its way in Yemen and has become a force for occupation. The role of the UAE in southern Yemen, he believes, is largely a destructive one. “We had considered the Emiratis allies who would help us remove the Houthis and reinstate the legitimate government,” bin Yaqut said, “but we see that it is the UAE that is attacking the Yemeni army.”