By Waseem Khattak
Head of Journalism, Women University Swabi
Email: awaseemkhattak@gmail.com
Whenever a new political or military statement emerges on Yemeni soil, the ordinary people are the first to react with fear. Shops close down, mothers pull their children close, and fathers look up at the sky asking just one question: whose decision will change our fate today? In recent days, the tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have triggered a new wave of anxiety across the cities and villages of Yemen.
These two countries, which have long stood together in Yemen’s war, are now hurling accusations at each other. Saudi Arabia claims that the UAE has been supporting groups in southern Yemen that not only threaten Yemen’s unity but also pose risks to Saudi borders. Riyadh has labeled this a red line for its national security and has demanded that the UAE withdraw its forces and cease all support to local militias. Though phrased diplomatically, these are harsh words, signaling that patience has run out.
On the other hand, Abu Dhabi insists that its intentions should not be doubted, emphasizing that it is in Yemen only to fight terrorism and protect its troops. But the Yemeni people are left asking why, if all actions were in good faith, such tensions have arisen within the same alliance. If the aim was peace, why does every new move seem to deepen the war?
Yemen is already like a patient whose wounds are too many to count. In the north, the Houthis dominate; in the south, separatist voices rise. The capital’s government is weak, and ordinary citizens struggle daily for their basic sustenance. Now, when powerful nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE stand against each other, it becomes even harder for the fragile Yemeni state to breathe.
The most painful aspect is that decisions are always made in distant capitals, but the costs are borne in Yemen’s poor towns. After any statement, when the sound of planes rumbles over Mukalla or Aden, a child does not see politics—he only knows that tonight, he may not sleep peacefully.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE present themselves as champions of regional stability, yet that stability is nowhere to be found in Yemen’s streets. Instead, there is rubble, broken walls, empty eyes, and the lingering question in every Yemeni heart: will we ever decide our own future, or will others always write our destiny?
If this tension continues, Yemen’s war could enter a new phase where even allies cannot trust each other. History shows that when powerful nations fight, the weakest always suffer the most. The people of Yemen no longer pray merely for an end to the war they pray for the wisdom that seems lost among the rulers of this region.
