5 UAE soldiers killed in attack in Yemen

Five soldiers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been killed and another wounded in attack on their military base in the Yemeni city of Abyan, a Yemeni source told the Anadolu Agency yesterday

“The attack targeted a military base run by Yemeni forces backed by the UAE,” the source explained, noting that the attack was carried out using light weapons and RPGs.

The source also said that the attackers fled the scene and have not been caught.

Meanwhile, the source said that the attackers could likely be from Al-Qaeda, citing previous attacks on numerous military bases in the same way.

In August 2017, the local authorities in Abyan announced they purged Al-Qaeda from the city, but the group has carried out several attacks and killed scores of soldiers since.

The UAE joined the war in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led campaign to back the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi against the Iran-backed Houthi group.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have been killed as a result of the conflict in what the UN has described as the “worst humanitarian crisis” to plague the earth in centuries.