Pro-coalition commander reveals Turkish military landing in Socotra

SOCOTRA, May 5 (YPA) – A senior military commander of Saudi-led coalition forces on Monday revealed a Turkish military landing in Socotra Archipelago province, southern Yemen, hours after a landing of Saudi forces on the island.

Nasser Qais, commander of the so-called “1st Marine Brigade” that defected from Hadi government forces, said that Turkish warships started hovering around Socotra island, noting that they landed “brotherhoods elements” and Turkish officers off the coast of the island and transported them on fishing boats.

This came a day after the official spokesman for the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC) Salem al-Awlaqi warned of a possible Turkish intervention, after monitoring movements in Ankara’s largest military base on the Somali coast near the island.

Qais’s announcement coincides with the sailing of a Saudi warship carrying hundreds of soldiers and vehicles towards the island, in a reinforcement of the Saudi forces that transported dozens of soldiers and vehicles to the island during the past hours via three military flights.

In the same context, the Saudi forces in Hadibu city, the capital of the Island, began a wide recruitment process, in an effort to replace the Hadi’s forces similar to the “Facilities Protection” forces that were deployed in Aden as an alternative to the STC militia and Hadi’s government.

YPA