In Pictures: Spy flights depart from UAE towards Yemeni coast
SANAA, Nov. 20 (YPA) – Websites specializing in tracking air traffic have revealed that an “MQ-4C Triton” drone belonging to the US Navy carried out spying missions in the Gulf of Aden and the western coasts of Yemen on the Red Sea.
The websites confirmed that the aircraft took off from Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and carried out intensive reconnaissance missions on Wednesday, over the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea, reaching off the western Yemeni coast.
On another front, the UAE continues to use the Russian airline “Aviacon Zitotrans”, which is subject to sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control “OFAC”, to operate suspicious flights via the cargo plane “IL-76TD”, registered with number “RA-76842”, and with call code “ZR4901”, between Al Reef Air Base in Abu Dhabi towards Bosaso Airport in Puntland, Somalia.
On the other hand, the websites revealed the continuation of flights by the “Fly Sky” cargo plane, linked to the UAE, of the “IL-76TD” model, registered with the number “EX-76017”, between Abu Dhabi and Bosaso.
The websites also monitored the movement of the cargo plane “IL-76TD”, belonging to “Zebu Air”, registered with the number “7Q-ASU”, with the call sign “MZB9101”, from Al Reef Air Base in Abu Dhabi to Bosaso Airport in Puntland, Somalia, before it later departed to Berbera Airport in Somaliland, indicating that the plane had adopted systems to hide its data.
On the other hand, monitoring sites showed intensive flights by a US Air Force U-28A Draco Pilatus aircraft, registered as 07-0777, used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations, over Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden, reaching Bosaso Airport in Somalia’s Puntland region on Wednesday.
According to informed sources, the flight coincided with airstrikes carried out by the US Africa Command in the Balad area of the Golis Mountains in Somalia’s Puntland region.
YPA