UAE imposes military presence on Socotra ahead of potential confrontations
SOCOTRA, Nov. 23 (YPA) -The UAE is attempting to establish a new military reality, away from local residents, in the Socotra Archipelago by deploying dozens of recruits to the islands located east of the Gulf of Aden
A local informed source reported that the commander of the UAE-funded “Al-‘Asifah” factions in Aden, Awsan Alanshali, arrived in Hadibu city in Socotra on a UAE mission to oversee the training of new recruits from the governorates of Al-Dhale and Lahj.
“The source indicated that Alanshali’s arrival came after last week’s graduation of a batch of approximately 750 personnel from the so-called ‘Special Forces and Riot Control,’ organized by UAE-aligned leadership.”
These recruits are being trained under the supervision of leaders and personnel brought in through Aden Airport in southern Yemen. These moves are part of a broader regional and international power struggle in the area.
The source explained that the UAE lost the trust of Socotra’s recruits by dismissing 800 of them in early September, particularly after the command of Saudi forces (808) stationed in Socotra recruited a number of tribal sheikhs and notables
The UAE has flooded the Socotra region with recruits, with a ratio of approximately one soldier for every 3–5 local residents, while establishing military sites across the islands in preparation for potential confrontations with the local population.
According to the source, UAE intelligence, through the Khalifa Foundation and Eastern Triangle Company, is working to strengthen its military presence on the island, reinforcing UAE and ‘Israeli’ influence along key trade routes to the Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea, following the establishment of a joint UAE-Israel military base on Abd al-Kuri Island earlier this year.
The UAE has turned Yemen’s Socotra Island and Bosaso Port in Somalia’s Puntland region into hubs for smuggling and transporting weapons to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, as well as to UAE-backed factions in Yemen, which have been particularly active over the past two months.
Socotra has effectively become a closed military zone under UAE control, with Saudi forces also present. Pro-UAE Authorities have reportedly made raising the Yemeni flag punishable, replaced school curricula with UAE-oriented programs, and switched local telecommunications networks to ones linked to Abu Dhabi, raising serious concerns about Yemen’s sovereignty.
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