June 26, 2016 5 News & Analysis Gulf UAE troops, US special operations forces step up fight against al-Qaeda in Yemen

Mohammed Alkhereiji

London

he war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is entering a new phase with the revelation that US special operations Tunits would extend their presence in Yemen and step up the joint ef- fort with the United Arab Emir- ates and other Gulf troops against the terrorist group’s most lethal branch. US forces are planning on re-es- tablishing an on-the-ground coun- terterrorism presence in Yemen as the war between the Houthi rebels and the internationally recognised Yemeni government continues, ac- cording to a report by the Washing- ton Post. US officials said a team of a dozen men would assist troops from Gulf countries in tracking down AQAP.

The UAE military is considered the most polished of all members and has played a central role in the fight against AQAP.

UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba said forces of Emi- rati, Saudi and Yemeni troops were a part of a drive to attack AQAP fighters throughout Yemen. He said efforts to tackle al-Qaeda in Yemen would be lengthy, adding that “mil- itary priorities have shifted from fighting the Iranian-backed Houthis to being more focused on AQAP”. With much of the world’s atten- A 2015 file picture shows an Emirati gunner aboard a Chinook military helicopter scanning the desert over Yemen. tion focused on fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and , often overlooked is that Yemen has be- Arab coalition air strikes drove ships sent aircraft and commandos played a central role in the fight 2011. However, the programme has come a base for terror groups, par- AQAP out of of Mukalla after the to Mukalla, where they provided against AQAP. US military officials come under criticism from human ticularly AQAP, for about ten years. terror group went almost a year intelligence support, which helped were so impressed that they nick- rights groups due to civilian causal- According to a report by the US unchecked, a side effect of the identify militant targets. named the UAE “Little Sparta” after ities and issues of sovereignty. Department of Defense, in 2015 on-going war. The UAE adjusted The retaking of Mukalla was a the ancient Greek city-state known The Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda “AQAP expanded its safe haven by its strategy to include training of major blow to AQAP as the port city for its military training and excel- has been linked to a number of seizing several towns, including the thousands of Yemeni tribal fighters was a strong financial source for the lence. high-profile international terrorist port city of Mukalla, which has giv- to face AQAP in addition to Houthi group. Staff Brigadier Musallam al- The US Central Command re- operations, including the Novem­ en it access to increased financial rebels. Rashidi, commander of UAE forces vealed that it conducted three ber 2009 Fort Hood, Texas, shoot­ resources”. The report said that, In April, as talks to end the war in Hadramawt, said AQAP looted up counterterrorism air strikes in early ing and the January 2015 attack on despite losing a number of senior in Yemen were about to begin in to $100 million a day while in con- June, killing six AQAP operatives. the offices of satirical magazine leaders, AQAP increased recruit- Kuwait, the UAE requested US sup- trol of Mukalla. The US drone programme has elim- Charlie Hebdo in Paris. ing and expanded its safe haven in port in retaking Mukalla. The Wash- The UAE military is considered inated a number of key al-Qaeda Yemen. ington Post reported that the USS the most polished of all Gulf Coop- figures, including spiritual leader Mohammed Alkhereiji is the Gulf Yemeni forces backed by Gulf Boxer Amphibious Ready Group eration Council members and has Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, in section editor of The Arab Weekly. calls for overthrow of Bahraini government

The Arab Weekly staff Fars news agency, Soleimani said Government-friendly local media government “will not allow any ac- ma accused Iran of hijacking dem- ’s rulers “will pay the price applauded the Interior Ministry’s tivities and actions that could cause onstrations to further its sectarian and it will have no result but the decision. In the Bahraini daily Al- damage to the supreme interests of agenda. Since then, Bahrain and Manama destruction of this bloodthirsty re- Watan, columnist Faisal al-Shaikh Bahrain” and that “there is no place other Gulf Arab states have, on a gime”. described Qassim as an “Iranian for those who incite against the rule number of occasions, intercepted ran and its -based af- Not to be outdone, Lebanon’s agent” who “hated Bahrain”. He of law or threaten the safety of the weapons and explosives allegedly filiate have called Hezbollah issued a statement call- added that revoking his citizenship country”. destined for groups sympathetic to for the overthrow of the Bah- ing for an uprising, demanding Bah- was “good and joyous news”. The stripping of Qassim’s citizen- Tehran’s goals. raini government, a move that rainis to “express their outrage over Another daily Akhbar al-Khaleej ship came after weeks of escalating is bound to inflame regional the attack against their prominent quoted Bahraini Prime Minister tensions, including the suspension Qassem Soleimani, the Isectarian tensions. symbol”. Khalifa al-Khalifa as saying the of Bahrain’s largest Shia opposition leader of Iran’s Islamic The threats by Tehran and its group, Al-Wefaq, on charges of “ter- Revolutionary Guards proxy came in response to the Ma- rorism, extremism and violence”. Corps, said Bahrain’s nama government’s decision to “Any organisations that adopt strip a hard-line Shia cleric of Bah- extremism and divert from the con- rulers “will pay the raini citizenship due to what is de- stitution and the law in Bahrain, price.” scribed as his continued promotion an Arab and Muslim constitutional of “sectarianism and violence”. monarchy state that believes in tol- Bahrain and other Gulf Coopera- Isa Qassim had his Bah- erance, coexistence and pluralism tion Council (GCC) members view raini citizenship taken away on June as a firm basis to rule, are illegal and Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer, as a 20th because, the Interior Ministry their presence and continued op- cause of regional instability. Ten- said in a statement, of continued ef- erations are contrary to public order sions heightened in January when forts “to divide the society in order in the kingdom,” a statement by the Riyadh severed diplomatic ties with to clone regional models based on Bahraini Ministry of Justice said. Iran following the storming of its sectarian foundations”, a reference Tensions between Bahrain and Tehran embassy by protesters an- to Iran and its regional proxies, such Iran have a long history. However, gered at ’s execution as Hezbollah and Iraq. things took a turn for the worst in of a radical Shia cleric convicted of “Surely they know that the ag- 2007, when an adviser to Iranian involvement in killing police. gression against Ayatollah Sheikh Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Consequently, GCC members Isa Qassim is a red line that will , Hossein Shariatma- have deported hundreds of foreign leave no option for the people but to dari called Bahrain a province of the nationals for alleged affiliation with resort to armed resistance,” Qassem Islamic republic that should be re- or spying for the Lebanese militia. Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Is- turned to Iran, causing a diplomatic The GCC as a whole designated Hez- lamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, uproar. bollah as a terrorist organisation said through Iranian state media. Supporters hold a poster of Bahraini Shia cleric Isa Qassim in the During the 2011 “” and has reached out to countries In a statement carried by the village of Diraz west of Manama, on June 21st. protests, the government in Mana- outside the union to do the same.