Saudi forces withdraw partly from Socotra to Mahra

SOCOTRA, June 21 (YPA) – Saudi forces numbering more than 1000 soldiers and officers on Socotra Island dispatched dozens of soldiers to Mahra province, eastern Yemen, local sources reported on Sunday.

The sources added that the Saudi force kept only a symbolic group of its forces in the island.

This came after Yemen Press Agency obtained information last week stating that President of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council Aidarous al-Zubaidi, who is currently in Riydah, had signed a contract with Saudi Arabia allowing it to implement its oil pipeline project across Mahra province, in his capacity as head of the so-called “Arab South” state.

According to the sources, the UAE had sent a number of Sudanese mercenaries by sea in order to secure the headquarters of the Emirati forces and the vital facilities affiliated it on the island.

The sources pointed out that what Saudi Arabia had done in Socotra comes in the framework of exchanging interests between it and the UAE, with regard to its oil project in Mahra province.

Saudi Arabia is actually heading towards extending the oil pipeline through Mahra lands to reach Nashton port on the Arabian Sea, the sources affirmed.

On Saturday, the STC militia stormed the city of Hadibu, the capital of Socotra, and seized the largest camps of Islah Party and armories, after the Saudi forces withdrawal from all military points located at the entrances to the city.

YPA