The operation in Hadramout marks the latest escalation in Yemen, where a rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who back opposing sides, has been playing out since December.
Once the twin pillars of regional security, the two Gulf heavyweights have seen their interests diverge on everything from oil quotas to geopolitical influence.
Hadramout's Saudi-backed governor Salem Ahmed Saeed al-Khunbashi said in a statement on Friday his forces had taken control of a military camp in al-Khasha'a, the largest and most important base in the province.
The governor had earlier said his forces were launching what he called a "peaceful" operation.
A senior official of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) told Reuters the operation had not been peaceful.
"Saudi Arabia knowingly misled the international community by announcing a peaceful operation that they never had any intention to keep peaceful," Amr Al Bidh said in a statement.
"This was evidenced by the fact that they launched seven air strikes minutes later," he said.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the air strikes.
It was unclear if there were any casualties.
Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE rose after the STC moved last month into Yemen's governorates of Hadramout and Mahra and seized an oil-rich region.
The move pushed out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces, a group aligned with the coalition in fighting the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki said on Friday on X that Saudi naval forces were deployed across the Arabian Sea to carry out inspections and combat smuggling.
Yemen's Saudi-backed government said it had appointed Hadramout's governor to take overall command of the "Homeland Shield" forces in the eastern province, granting him full military, security and administrative authority in what it said was a move to restore security and order.
"This is not a declaration of war," the governor said in a speech on Yemen TV, adding that the move aims to prevent the use of camps to threaten security and to protect Hadramout from sliding into chaos.
The oil-producing Hadramout province borders Saudi Arabia and many prominent Saudis trace their origins to it, lending it cultural and historical significance for the kingdom.
A spokesperson for the STC, Mohammed al-Naqeeb, said on Friday that forces were on full alert across the region and warned that it was ready to respond forcefully in a post on X.
The STC's Bidh told Reuters that three of the air strikes targeted the al-Khasha'a military camp.
Three Yemeni sources told Reuters armoured vehicles belonging to the Saudi-backed government had been moving towards the Khasha'a camp, which has the capacity to house thousands of troops and was taken over by the STC in December.
The UAE backs the STC, which seized large swathes of southern Yemen last month from the internationally recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia, which in turn saw the move as a threat.
The UAE last week said it was pulling its remaining forces out of Yemen after Saudi Arabia backed a call for its forces to leave within 24 hours in one of the severest disagreements between the two Gulf oil powers to ever play out in public.
The move briefly eased tensions but disagreements between the various groups on the ground in Yemen have persisted since then.
with AP
