This action comes after an airstrike by a Saudi-led coalition that targeted an alleged weapons shipment headed for Yemeni southern separatist forces
The United Arab Emirates has stated that it will pull out its remaining troops from Yemen following a Saudi-led airstrike on a shipment at a southern Yemeni port. Riyadh claimed that the shipment included weapons meant for a separatist group, a claim which the UAE refuted.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Emirati Ministry of Defense said, citing concerns about the safety of its personnel, that it was voluntarily ending its counterterrorism units in Yemen. These are the only UAE forces still there since it completed a broader military withdrawal in 2019. Abu Dhabi was part of the Saudi-led coalition formed four years earlier at the request of Yemen’s internationally recognized government to fight Houthi rebels.
This announcement followed an airstrike earlier in the day by the coalition on Yemen’s key southern port of Mukalla. The coalition said the strike was aimed at weapons and combat vehicles unloaded from ships coming from the UAE, allegedly destined for the Southern Transitional Council (STC). The STC is a separatist group in southern Yemen that initially fought as part of the coalition but later shifted towards seeking self – rule in the south. The UAE has rejected the claims that the shipment contained weapons.
Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al – Alimi later declared a 90 – day state of emergency, canceled a security pact with the UAE, and demanded that Emirati forces leave the country within 24 hours, a demand that Saudi Arabia has supported.
The UAE’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has “categorically” rejected what it described as attempts to “involve the country in tensions among Yemeni parties,” stating that it strongly condemns allegations that it directed Yemeni forces to carry out operations threatening Saudi security or its borders. It also said that the targeted shipment only included vehicles intended for use by UAE forces on the ground.
Yemen has been devastated by civil war since 2014, when Houthi forces took control of the capital, Sanaa, forcing the Saudi – backed government south. The Houthis now hold most of northern Yemen, while the STC has, since 2022, controlled much of the south under a power – sharing arrangement and seized large areas of territory, including in the strategically important Hadramout and Al – Mahra provinces, both of which border Saudi Arabia. Last week, the Saudi air force was reported to have bombed separatist positions in Hadramout.
© Getty Images / Anadolu / Contributor