The Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen has launched strikes on the country’s southern Dali governorate, saying it was targeting secessionist forces after their leader fled without boarding a plane scheduled to take him to Riyadh.

In a statement issued early on Wednesday, the coalition said the leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, had been due to fly out from the Yemeni city of Aden on Tuesday night for talks on ending the conflict between his group and the internationally recognised government of Yemen.

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But al-Zubaidi did not board the plane, and “fled to an unknown location,” it said.

His whereabouts remain unknown.

“During this time, the legitimate government and the coalition received information that al-Zubaidi had mobilised a large force, including armoured vehicles, heavy and light weapons, as well as ammunition,” it said.

The force was located in the Dhali governorate, and the coalition launched “preemptive strikes” at 4am (01:00 GMT) local time to thwart al-Zubaidi’s “attempt to escalate the conflict and extend” it, the coalition added.

There was no immediate comment from the STC.

The council, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognised government against the Houthi rebels who control northern Yemen, launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops in December, seeking an independent state in the south.

The group is backed by the United Arab Emirates.

Their advance broke years of deadlock, with the STC ‌seizing control of broad swaths of southern Yemen, including the Hadramout and Mahra provinces, in defiance of warnings from Riyadh.

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Hadramout borders Saudi Arabia, while Mahra is close to the border. Together, the provinces make up nearly half of Yemeni territory.

Riyadh responded with air strikes on the Yemeni port of Mukalla on December 30, targeting what it called a UAE-linked weapons shipment, and backed a call by the internationally recognised government for UAE forces to withdraw from the country.

Abu Dhabi denied that the shipment contained weapons and expressed a commitment to ensure Riyadh’s security. Shortly afterwards, it announced an end to what it called its “counterterrorism mission” in Yemen.

Yemeni government troops, backed by Saudi Arabian air attacks, went on to reclaim Hadramout and Mahra, and the STC said on Saturday that it would attend peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition on Wednesday said the STC delegation, excluding al-Zubaidi, departed Yemen for Riyadh in the early hours of the morning.