A mysterious airstrip built on a Yemeni island comes as Houthi rebels are increasingly squeezed
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite images show a new airstrip being built on a volcanic island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. probably the last project of the allied forces To those who oppose the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The airstrip on Zuqar Island provides another link in the Houthis’ network of offshore bases in a key international maritime region where the Houthis have already attacked more than 100 ships, sinking four and killing at least nine sailors. Israel-Hamas war.
This could give a military force the ability to conduct aerial surveillance over the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the strategic, narrow Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects two waterways off East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
However, it remains unclear what will trigger the use of the runway for military operations. The United Arab Emirates, which is also building other runways in the region, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces, divided by conflicting interests and unable to launch a coordinated offensive against the rebels even after the incident. intense american And Israeli bombing campaigns this targeted them.
In recent months, anti-Houthi forces have achieved the following: Ban on sending more cargo to the HouthisSomething that could benefit from having a presence in Zuqar.
“The possibility of a new Yemen offensive against the Houthis, supported by the Saudi-led coalition, cannot be ruled out, but I do not see it coming,” said Eleonora Ardemagni, an analyst at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies who has long studied Yemen.
“In my opinion, there is a more important point about the structure in Zuqar: combating the Houthis’ arms smuggling activities,” he said.
A runway on a strategic island
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show construction of a nearly 2,000-meter (6,560-foot) runway on Zuqar Island, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida, a major shipping hub.
The images show that work began in April to build a pier on the island, followed by land clearing along the runway area. In late August, what appeared to be asphalt was being laid on the track. Images from October show work continuing, with runway markings being painted in the middle of the month.
Nobody supported the construction. But ship tracking data analyzed by the AP shows that the Batsa, a Togolese-flagged bulk carrier registered to a Dubai-based shipping firm, spent almost a week at the new dock on Zuqar Island after arriving from Berbera in Somaliland, where DP World’s port is located. DP World declined to comment.
Saif Shipping and Marine Services, a Dubai-based shipping company, admitted that it received an order to deliver asphalt to the island, which will likely be used in the construction of the airstrip, on behalf of other UAE-based companies. Other shipping firms based in Emirates have been associated with other airstrip construction projects in Yemen, which later connected to the UAE.
The UAE is believed to be behind numerous runway projects in Yemen in recent years. In Mocha, on the Red Sea coast, a project to expand the city’s airport now allows for the landing of much larger planes. Local authorities have linked this project to the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is now also a runway in nearby Dhubab.
Another runway opens Abd al-Kuri IslandIn the Indian Ocean, near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. And in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Another runway built by the UAE is on Mayun Island.. In Yemen, an anti-Houthi separatist force known as the Southern Transitional Council, long backed by the UAE, controls the island and has acknowledged the UAE’s role in building the airport.
Targeting Houthi shipments
Zuqar Island is a strategic location in the Red Sea. Eritrea captured the island in 1995 after a conflict with Yemeni forces. In 1998, an international court officially placed the island under Yemen’s custody.
The island found itself in war once again after the Houthis captured Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and the rebels began marching south with the capture of Zuqar.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE went to war on behalf of the country’s exiled government in 2015, stopping the Houthis’ advance. They also repelled the Houthis from Zukar, retaking the island, which had become a staging area for naval forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, nephew of Yemen’s late dictator leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Young Saleh was once an ally of the Houthis his uncle changed sides and the rebels killed himIt is supported by the UAE.
Since then, the front lines of the war have remained dormant for years.
What changed was that the Houthis took their campaign to a global level by launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This continued even after continued Israeli attacks launched by the United States and a week of intense airstrikes known as Operation Rough Rider, which saw the Houthis getting closer to their senior leaders despite the rebels’ penchant for secrecy.
“Like every rebel group, the Houthis win by not losing,” Yemen expert Gregory D. Johnsen wrote in June. “This is how the group survived and thrived after each war.”
Although a loose confederation of anti-Houthi groups exists, it is fragmented and did not launch any attacks during the US airstrikes. But the growing network of air bases around Yemen comes as anti-Houthi forces have seized several key weapons that will likely go to the rebels – including a major weapon touted by the US military’s Central Command.
“A possible Emirati airstrip in Zuqar could serve to improve surveillance and monitoring along the coast of Hodeida to provide better support to Yemeni forces in the fight against smuggling,” Ardemagni said.
