Footage reveals details of Saudi military presence inside “Morrah” base in Shabwa
SHABWA, Oct. 25 (YPA) – Footage has revealed a hidden Saudi military facility built into the mountains and interconnected by a network of tunnels inside the “Morrah” camp, located west of the city of Ataq in Shabwa Governorate.
The newly established Saudi base in the Morrah camp is situated between the districts of Ataq and Nisab, representing one of the most prominent centers for managing Saudi military operations and mobilizations in Shabwa and parts of Marib Governorate.
The footage showed Saudi officers and soldiers celebrating what they call Saudi “National Day” inside the military base, which Saudi Arabia took over from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this year. The celebration inside the base was almost entirely restricted to Saudi officers and soldiers, with a limited presence of leaders from pro-Saudi factions.
The celebration scenes disclosed the identities of key Saudi leaders and officers directing the forward military base in Shabwa. Prominently featured was the commander of Saudi forces in Shabwa, “Muslih Al-Otaibi,” alongside Saudi officer “Sultan Al-Jash” in his capacity as assistant to the so-called “Al-Otaibi.”
The footage clarified the presence of Saudi staff officers responsible for planning, operations, intelligence, logistics, and communications inside the base. These command and staff officers represent the leadership at the Morrah base and manage military and operational tasks, according to details circulated by Al-Masirah TV channel.
Additionally, the footage showed the participation of the so-called “Fawzi Al-Saadi”—who was appointed by the UAE as commander of the so-called “Shabwa Defense” forces and recently declared his allegiance to Saudi Arabia—in the celebration inside the Morrah military base. This involvement unveils the nature of the relationship between the Saudi base command and its subordinate local formations.
Information confirmed the presence of a massive Saudi force in Shabwa’s Morrah camp numbering up to 150 Saudi officers and soldiers. This force operates under a joint command and operations system in Sharorah, Saudi Arabia, which connects to a new command system within the Saudi Ministry of Defense in Riyadh, led by the officer “Fahd Al-Salman.”
In terms of infrastructure and capabilities, the “Morrah” camp spans an area exceeding 4 square kilometers and encompasses multiple military facilities within mountainous fortifications, serving as a training center for Saudi-affiliated mobilizations across various military specialties.
The Morrah military base also serves as a primary depot for surveillance, jamming systems, and reconnaissance drones. Prior to handing over the base to Saudi Arabia last year, the UAE constructed fortified underground weapons depots for various types of arms inside the mountains, adding military facilities and an airstrip near the Morrah camp as part of the base expansion.
The strategic Morrah camp has thus transformed into a fully integrated, multi-functional Saudi military base in Shabwa, uncovering a command and control network linked to operations centers inside Saudi territory. This forward operational base stands as one of the most significant military bases overlooking the Arabian Sea, alongside several bases controlled by Saudi Arabia in Aden, Marib, Hadramout, and Mahra.
Earlier this year, the “Yemen Press Agency”, citing information obtained at the time, revealed that the Morrah camp in Shabwa had turned into an operations room managing Emirati agendas in Yemen and extending to Sudan under what is known as “Site C,” following the UAE’s construction of an airstrip and underground weapons depots at the camp in 2023.
The “Morrah” camp was originally constructed as a military base by military experts from the former Soviet Union as well as Cuba in the early 1970s. This conferred upon it exceptional engineering durability, reinforced by impenetrable walls, fortifications, and rugged mountainous terrain surrounding it from all directions, alongside numerous mountain tunnels that have been developed and modernized.
The “Morrah” camp subsequently turned into the most dangerous Emirati operational center in the region, considered the beating heart of foreign intelligence for managing cross-border files—most notably directing the war on Yemen and supporting the war in Sudan through the establishment of “Site C”—after Emirati forces seized control of the camp in early January 2022, when it was serving as the command headquarters for the Islah Party’s “21st Mika Brigade.”
YPA