Various deadlines have passed since Saudi Arabia brokered a deal between the Yemeni government and the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) to share power. Little has been achieved. Disputes have not been entirely buried and Yemen’s south still faces uncertainty.

On Nov. 5, the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and United Arab Emirates-backed STC inked the power-sharing pact in Riyadh to end the strife in southern provinces — particularly in Aden, Shabwa and Abyan. Both sides had been part of an Arab coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis. Though more than a month has gone by, several terms of the agreement are unmet and each side accuses the other of interfering with the deal's implementation.

The agreement called for the government to appoint a governor and a security director for Aden and to form a balanced government of 24 ministers within 30 days. These points remain unfulfilled and the agreement has fared badly thus far.

On Dec. 6, a pro-government Yemeni battalion of the Presidential Protection Forces was moving from Shabwa south toward Aden. STC forces stopped them near Shuqra in Abyan province, and a deadly encounter erupted. That was the first armed confrontation between the two sides since the agreement was signed.