Yemen - The deployment of armed forces on the strategic island of Maon in Bab al-Mandav has been approved

Brigadier General Tariq Saleh, an armed militia commander and nephew of the late Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, admitted that his forces, backed by the UAE, are stationed on the strategic island of Maon near Egypt in Bab al-Nadav, where there is a secret air base currently under construction.

A report by the AP news agency published late last month claimed that the UAE was building a "secret air base on the strategic island of Maon in the Bab al-Mandab Strait".

However, Saudi Arabia, which leads Arab allied forces in Yemen, has denied reports of the presence of UAE forces in the Yemeni islands of Socotra and Maon.

The official Saudi news agency, Spa, quoted a coalition official as saying that "there is no truth in the news that there is a presence of UAE forces in the islands of Socotra and Maon."

Information coming from a website that tracks the movement of ships shows that at least two ships owned by UAE have sailed to the island since it was published in May by the AP news agency about the construction of the base.

The UAE has not responded to repeated requests for comment about the base. However, the Saudi-led coalition later acknowledged the presence of "equipment" on the island in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Although no country has announced its connection with the air base under construction, the cargo movement linked to the construction of a huge 5.6-kilometer runway across the island is linked to the UAE. Legislative Yemeni officials have demanded an official inquiry into the base.

In an interview published in the Arabic-language news site of the Russian news agency Sputnik, on Monday, Saleh admitted in the presence of his national resistance forces on the island.

Saleh said, "We have forces belonging to the Yemeni Coast Guard… located on the island of Maon, and there is also a small force of Arab coalition forces on the island represented by Saudi forces. The route was established to provide future logistical support to joint forces on the west coast of Yemen, or any other side."

He added that the island of Maon "is a Yemeni island and will continue to belong to Yemen."

According to reports online, a network of naval mines was planted on the sea floor in relatively shallow waters about 15 meters deep 

Recently, the Arab coalition forces of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are operating in the area of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, discovered another naval minefield, according to reports online. The minefield was discovered in the southern part of the Red Sea adjacent to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is one of the naval chokepoints through which the majority of maritime trade between Asia and Europe passes, and thus is a vital route for world trade.  

The minefield included a network that was planted on the sea floor in relatively shallow waters (about 15 meters deep) located several hundred meters from the coast. The network included 200kg mines that were attached to one another. Each mine was equipped with a sensor that activated the mine if it detected changes in the electromagnetic stream and/or acoustic sound resulting from the passage of ships. The mines that were discovered were dismantled.   

The minefield is suspected of being laid by the naval force of Yemen's Houthi rebels that are operating against the regime in Yemen as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis are a terrorist organization operating under the auspices of Iran, which finances the group's operations and provides it with equipment. In recent months, Hezbollah helped establish eight new bases for the organization's naval force and trained dozens of Houthi fighters while setting up a new naval commando force for the organization.     

In recent years, dozens of naval mines planted by the organization have been discovered in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The laying of naval mines by the Houthis is a significant threat to both military and civilian ships operating in the area, including Israeli merchant ships heading to or from Asia that pass through the Red Sea. 

Saudi Arabian air defenses intercepted and destroyed an armed drone launched by Yemen's Houthi group towards the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, state television said on Monday.

It cited the Saudi-led military coalition, which has been battling the Houthis for over six years, as saying it was taking operational measures to protect civilians from such assaults.

On Sunday, Saudi state media said a drone rigged with explosives fell on a school in the kingdom's Aseer province but that no injuries were reported.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have frequently launched cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the war. 

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Yemen's Houthis said on Monday they had launched a drone at Saudi Arabia's Abha airport, according to a post on Twitter by a spokesman of the Iran-aligned group.

The was no immediate confirmation of the attack by the Saudi authorities.

According to reports online, a network of naval mines was planted on the sea floor in relatively shallow waters about 15 meters deep 

Recently, the Arab coalition forces of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are operating in the area of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, discovered another naval minefield, according to reports online. The minefield was discovered in the southern part of the Red Sea adjacent to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is one of the naval chokepoints through which the majority of maritime trade between Asia and Europe passes, and thus is a vital route for world trade.  

The minefield included a network that was planted on the sea floor in relatively shallow waters (about 15 meters deep) located several hundred meters from the coast. The network included 200kg mines that were attached to one another. Each mine was equipped with a sensor that activated the mine if it detected changes in the electromagnetic stream and/or acoustic sound resulting from the passage of ships. The mines that were discovered were dismantled.   

The minefield is suspected of being laid by the naval force of Yemen's Houthi rebels that are operating against the regime in Yemen as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Houthis are a terrorist organization operating under the auspices of Iran, which finances the group's operations and provides it with equipment. In recent months, Hezbollah helped establish eight new bases for the organization's naval force and trained dozens of Houthi fighters while setting up a new naval commando force for the organization.     

In recent years, dozens of naval mines planted by the organization have been discovered in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. The laying of naval mines by the Houthis is a significant threat to both military and civilian ships operating in the area, including Israeli merchant ships heading to or from Asia that pass through the Red Sea. 

Source: Al-Masirah TV (Yemen)

Al-Masirah TV (Houthis-Yemen) aired a video titled: "From Yemen... Fire Your Rocket Towards Tel Aviv" on June 8, 2021, as part of "the Popular Campaign to Support Palestine." In the animated video, money bills enter a collection box, which is connected by electric wires to a rocket launch-pad. A Qassam rocket is launched, overpassing Yemeni and Palestinian flags, and hits an iron-made dome marked with an Israeli flag. The dome is completely destroyed.

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The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said on Thursday it has stopped carrying out attacks near Sanaa or any other Yemeni city because it wants to prepare the political ground for a peaceful settlement.

The statement, made by the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition and published by the Saudi state media, followed media reports of an attack on an armored division belonging to the Iran-aligned Houthis near the Yemeni capital.

The spokesperson, Turki al-Maliki, denied the report, adding that "no military operation has been carried out in the vicinity of Sanaa or any other Yemeni cities over the past period (..) with the aim of preparing the political ground for a peace process." 

Yemen's Houthi administration has started renovating Sanaa airport, two industry sources said, as the group that controls most of northern Yemen prepares for a possible reopening of the facility under U.N.-led peace efforts.

A Saudi Arabian-led coalition has controlled Yemen's air space since 2015, when the alliance intervened against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that ousted the internationally recognized government from the capital, Sanaa.

The coalition's spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had agreed to reopen air space and allow the airport to resume regular operations.

The industry sources told Reuters that construction work had begun in some parts of the airport, which has been closed since 2015 except for U.N. flights.

It has been targeted dozens of times by coalition airstrikes over the last six years. The military alliance says the facility is used for arms smuggling.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday and emphasized U.S. commitment to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory and people, the Pentagon said.

Austin and Prince Mohammed discussed regional security, particularly efforts to end the war in Yemen, and "ongoing bilateral efforts to improve Saudi Arabia’s defenses," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, who have controlled most of northern Yemen since 2014, have kept up cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia and are pressing an offensive to seize Yemen's gas-rich Marib region.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted a Saudi-backed government from the capital Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.

Austin "noted Saudi Arabia’s recent successes in defeating Houthi attacks on the Kingdom" and thanked the crown prince for working with U.S. special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking to end the Yemen war, Kirby said.

Last month, Lenderking criticized the Houthis for not engaging seriously in stalled efforts to secure a ceasefire. He also urged the coalition to remove restrictions on all Yemeni ports and airports.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the war, most of them civilians, and millions of Yemenis rely on humanitarian assistance to survive.

This morning, a huge attack by hundreds of Houthi terrorists began in Yemen. More than 200 Saudi soldiers and mercenaries were killed near the Jizan border. 
The Houthis now occupy 40 positions and destroy 63 vehicles, killing 200 Saudi forces, including mercenaries.
This very heavy attack continues.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early on Sunday it destroyed an explosives-laden drone headed towards Khamis Mushait launched by Houthi militia in Yemen, Saudi state TV al-Ekhbariya reported.

In a tweet early on Sunday, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree stated that an operation targeted Saudi Arabia's King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait with explosives-laden drones, and the hit was accurate.

The coalition earlier dismissed as "fabricated" video footage issued by the Houthi movement on Saturday purportedly showing an incursion by its fighters into a Saudi Arabian border area on the frontlines. 

Houthi-run Al Masirah television cited a military source as saying more than 80 Saudi soldiers and Sudanese "mercenaries" were killed or injured, while tens were captured in the operation near Al Khoubah in the southern Saudi region of Jazan.

"Claims by the Houthi militia about executing a military operation on the Jazan border are media fabrications," Saudi state television cited coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki as saying.

Yemen's Houthi group issued video footage on Saturday purportedly of an incursion by its fighters into a Saudi Arabian border area on the frontlines in which Houthi-run media said Saudi soldiers were captured and killed.

The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition which has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi group for over six years did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Houthi-run Al Masirah television on Twitter cited a military source as saying more than 80 Saudi soldiers and Sudanese "mercenaries" were killed or injured, while tens were captured in the operation in the vicinity of Al Khoubah in the southern Saudi region of Jazan.

If confirmed, the attack would further complicate attempts by the United Nations and the United States to establish a ceasefire in a conflict widely seen in the region as a proxy war between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.