UAE forces send armed campaign to suppress Hadramout tribes
HADRAMOUT, 06 (YPA) – The UAE’s armed forces command dispatched an armed campaign on Friday to suppress one of the most prominent tribes in Hadramout province, eastern Yemen.
A source familiar with the matter said that the UAE sent an armed campaign, including almost 25 military vehicles and armored vehicles, to suppress the Hamoum tribesmen, led by Sheikh Salem bin Mubarak al-Gharabi, who is loyal to the Saudi-backed Hadramout Tribal Alliance.
This came after the tribesmen thwarted a similar campaign last Tuesday.
The source added that the UAE forces, which have operated a joint military base with US forces at Al-Rayyan Airport since 2016, sent the Security Support factions, which were brought in from Aden toward the tribal areas. “The tribes constitute one of the most important supporters of the alliance in Eastern Al-Dais, where Abu Dhabi has not established a foothold in recent years.”
The source stated that the campaign had several objectives, to weaken the Hamoum tribe in the eastern Al-Dais on the one hand, and to seize control of the Hadramout coast from the Al-Ahqaf Brigade led by Ghaithan Al-Bahsani, who is part of the Second Military Region formation in Al-Mukalla, so that the Hadramout coast is under the control of the Security Support factions led by the so-called Saleh Ali Hussein Abu Bakr who is known as “Abu Ali Al-Hadrami.
It indicated that the Hamoum tribes, led by Salem Al-Gharabi Al-Hamoumi, warned the Emirati-backed armed factions against committing any reckless acts on their lands and held the local authorities responsible for the consequences of such attacks.
The Hamoum tribes, along with other eastern Al-Dias tribes, led by Sheikh Salem bin Mubarak Al-Gharabi Al-Hamoumi, had previously thwarted the establishment of a UAE naval camp on the strategic Ras Baghsawa mountain overlooking the Arabian Sea in the middle of last year.
Ras Baghsawa is considered the largest turtle reserve in Hadramout and the only outlet for the region’s residents to practice fishing, a profession on which most of the locals depend.
AA