Mysterious airstrip built on Yemeni island comes as insurgents increasingly decimated
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A new Airstrip is being built on a new Red Sea island on the Nemen coast, satellite images show, probably the latest project carried out by forces supported by the Houthians.
The Airstrip in Zuqar Island provides another link to the network of Offshore bases in the regional phase in international travel, where the houkhes have already attacked more than 100 ships, killing four ships and killing at least Israeli mariners during the Israeli – war.
It would give the military the ability to monitor the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the El-Mandeb Strait that connects the two waterways of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
However, it remains unclear what causes the airstrip to be used for military operations. The United Arab Emirates, which owns other roads in the region, did not respond to requests for comment. And the Anti-Houthi forces of Yemen were not divided by the interests of the war and could not launch a combined attack against the rebels even after the bombing campaigns of America and Israel directed at them.
In the past months, the anti-Houthi forces have been able to separate more money from the houkhes, something that happens where it comes from Zuqar can help.
“The possibility of Yemen in New Humanise against Houninis, supported by the Saudi-LED Coalition, cannot be ruled out, although I do not see it as approaching,” said Eleonora Ardemagni, an analyst at the Italian Institute for international political studies who has studied Yemen for a long time.
“There is a very important point in my view about the construction of Zuqar: The contradiction of HouTis smuggling activities, as far as weapons are concerned,” he said.
The runway on the island of Cebo
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the Associated Press show the construction of Ruwar-Island (55 km) south of the city of Hodeida, an important shipping point.
The pictures show the work started in April to build a dock on the island, then the earth is cleared on the side of the road. At the end of August, it seems that they are being carried all over the runway. Pictures from October show work in progress, with runway markings drawn during the month.
No one has released the construction. However, ship tracking data analyzed by the AP shows the Batsa, Bubai’s flagship carrier registered a week near the Suqar Island church after arriving in Berbera at the DP World Port. DP World declined to comment.
A Dubai-based maritime company, SAIF Shipping and Marine Services, agreed to receive an order to deliver asphalt to the island for use in the construction of other Airstrips on behalf of other UAE firms. Some Emirates-based offshore firms involved in other Airstrip construction projects in Yemen were later brought back to the UAE.
The UAE is believed to be responsible for many runway projects in recent years in Yemen. In Mocha on the Red Sea, the project to expand that City Airport now allows it to receive a very large aircraft. Local authorities say that the project in the UAE, an organization of seven chiefs, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is also now a runway near the nearby dhubab.
Another runway is on Abd Al-Kuri Island, in the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. And in the Bab-Mandeb Strait itself, another road built by the UAE is on Mayun Island. The Anti-Houthi Secfiessist Force in Yemen known as the Southern Council, which has long been supported by the UAE, is in charge of the island and has agreed to the UAE’s role in building the airport.
Orientation of Hukho submission
Zuqar Island is a beautiful place in the Red Sea. Eritrea seized the island in 1995 after fighting Yemeni forces. The international court in 1998 placed the island legally in the custody of Yemen.
The island again found itself engulfed in war after HOUSTIS captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and began the March South, when the rebels took over Zuqar.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE went to war in 2015 on behalf of the country’s government, blocking the Houthi advance. They also returned the houtsis to Zuqar, returning the island, which has been a place of detention for forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, the nephew of Yemeni Abdullah Saleh.
Salehser Gineh, if it is interrupted in Hadinis before the uncle extinguished the parties and the rebels have returned, supported by the UAE.
Since then, the front lines of the war have been basic for years.
What changed was HouThis’ taking its campaign around the world with attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. That continued even after the Sovillong campaign of Airstrikes known as Operation Rought Rider launched by the United States and continued to be hit by Israel, which seems to be approaching the top leadership of the Houkhos despite the penchant for secrecy.
“The HOUTHIS, like any insurgent group, won without giving up,” wrote Gregory D. Johnsen, Yemen expert, in June. “It’s how the group survived and grew in their individual battles.”
While the Copederal is open to the anti-Houthi groups, it remains isolated and has not been divided and has not renewed any attacks during the US Airstrikes. But the expanding network of air bases around Yemen comes as the anti-Houthi forces have launched several major military offensives, targeting the rebels – including a major raid praised by the US military.
“It is possible that the Emirati Airstrip in Zuqar can be used to improve the surveillance and monitoring of the coast of Hodeida which will better support the Yemeni forces in the search for smuggling,” Ardemagni said.
