UAE Deeply Involved in Yemen Despite Claims of Withdrawal: Expert

Date: 23 February 2021 - 22:11

News ID: ۸۷۹۴۰

SANA’A (Dispatches) – While Saudi Arabia has taken the bulk of criticism for its role in war-torn Yemen, experts say the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains deeply involved in the impoverished country despite claims of disengagement.
The UAE announced in October that it had ended its military involvement in Yemen, but four months later, those documenting the war have insisted otherwise. From strategic islands to air and sea ports, military bases and militias, the UAE is accused of being heavily active in the war.
Justin Russel, head of the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs (NYCFPA) think-tank, which is levying a lawsuit against the U.S. State Department over a now-paused arms deal to the UAE, told Middle East Eye that his organization has documented continued Emirate involvement in Yemen.
"The UAE, either in the spotlight or under the radar, continues to be an aggressor in the region,” Russel said.
"The UAE’s withdrawal announcement drew international attention away and basically took the rest of the world off the scent of what they are actually doing in the region… But in our research, there is still funding and other battlefield support from the UAE in Yemen on a regular basis,” he continued.
Described by the UN as "the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, the conflict has displaced millions and nearly 250,000 people have been killed, mostly at the hands of the Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE as its main partner.
While the UAE and Saudi Arabia began their involvement in the country on the side of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, in 2017 the Emirates took a slightly separate path, focusing on supporting the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC).
In the latest development in the country, victory appears to be on the horizon in the heated battle for Yemen’s strategic central province of Ma’rib as army troops, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have reportedly taken control of most areas there and dislodged Saudi-led coalition forces and Riyadh-backed militants from those regions.
A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency that Yemeni soldiers and their allies had encircled Ma’rib city, following weeks of fierce clashes with Saudi-led coalition forces and their mercenaries.
The source added that Yemeni forces had cut off the main supply route into the eastern flank of Ma’rib, which leads to the Arab country’s largest province of Hadhramaut.
Meanwhile, the governor of Yemen’s southern province of Aden has warned that the al-Qaeda-affiliated Salafist Islah Party is transferring Takfiri militants from southern areas to Ma’rib to join the ranks of Saudi-led coalition forces and Hadi loyalists in battles against Yemeni soldiers and their allies.