Despite several Saudi attacks on the separatists in Hadramawt province - which were still ongoing on Friday evening - the STC says it intends to form an independent state that would divide present-day Yemen into northern and southern parts.
The group's leader, Aidaros Alzubidi, says that during the transition period discussions will be held with, among others, the Houthi movement, which controls northern Yemen, and he also promises to hold a referendum on the issue.
But in a televised speech, he also warns that the separatists will "immediately" declare an independent state if the other parties - including the UN - refuse to discuss the issue or if the parts of southern Yemen that the group controls are attacked.
The STC seized large parts of Hadramawt in December, leading to a sharp escalation in tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE announced on Friday that all its forces in Yemen had now left the country.
The STC declared self-rule in southern Yemen in 2020, but three months later abandoned its declaration and promised to implement a peace agreement with the government. That agreement was later abandoned as well.
The civil war has been raging in Yemen for more than a decade.
