Saudi Arabia helps UAE raid Al-Qaeda post in Yemen

A United Arab Emirates-backed force has conducted a raid in an Al-Qaeda stronghold in Yemen, with air support from Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Hizam forces conducted a counter-terrorism raid in the Wuday district in Abyan province, southern Yemen yesterday. For the first time, Saudi Arabia provided air support to the Hizam forces, expanding military objectives against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

A Saudi Arabian warplane crashed whilst providing air cover to the UAE-backed forces, according to the SPA. The crash was caused by technical faults.

The neighbouring province of Shabwa was raided in a counterterrorism raid by the UAE alongside the United States last month.

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Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of an Arab coalition fighting in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis and forces loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The coalition entered the war in 2015 to reinstate the UN-backed President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. However in recent months the UAE has been found to be backing the Southern Transitional Council in an effort to split Yemen in to two countries, North and South, contrary to the objectives of the coalition.