Yemeni separatists seize island of Socotra from Saudi-backed government

Southern Transitional Council has taken control of remote archipelago in the Arabian Sea

Yemeni separatists have seized control of the island of Socotra in the Arabian Sea, deposing its governor and driving out the forces of the Saudi-backed government, which condemned the action as a coup.

The Southern Transitional Council (STC) declared self-rule in the south of the country in April, complicating UN efforts to forge a permanent ceasefire in a war that has separatists and the government fighting as nominal allies in a Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels, who control the north.