US and UAE Troops Invade Southern Yemen and Occupy Oil Fields

Al-Sabah Al-Yemeni

Under the pretext of combating terrorist activity, US and UAE troops have invaded southern Yemen and occupied oil fields in the Shabwa province.

The deputy governor of Yemen’s southeastern province has stated that a large contingency of U.S. troops and United Arab Emirates soldiers have invaded the region and occupied gas and oil fields, which was confirmed by a military source, according to Yemen’s news agency Saba.

Shabwa Mohammad Ahmed Abu Harbah said that under the pretext of combating terrorist activity, the foreign troops united behind the title “Shabwani elite forces” and invaded the province.

“American Emirati aggression” must be confronted by a united Yemen, Abu Harbah stated, adding that the intent behind the foreign invasion was to stir up a civil war.

Another military official, according to AhluBayt News Agency, claimed that the totality of the foreign troops is under Emirati command and that, instead of providing security, they’ve backed Islamic State group and al-Qaeda activities with the objective of stirring up violent acts to justify their presence in the region.

Since 2015, Yemen has been the victim of an insidious war of aggression led by Saudi Arabia and financed by the United States and the United Kingdom.

The UAE has established new military bases in Africa and deployed troops to Afghanistan and Yemen, according to the Associated Press.

In early June the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed a US$750 million military sale to Saudi Arabia. It included U.S. made missiles, bombs, armored personnel carriers, warships, munitions, and a “blanket order training program” for the Saudi security forces receiving the military equipment both inside and outside the kingdom, according to Reuters.

In July, the British High Court ruled that the government is not breaking the law by continuing to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, contradicting claims made in 2016 by independent observers and U.N. officials that large numbers of civilians are being killed as a result of Saudi Arabia’s military campaign against Yemen.

Since the bombing began 2015, the U.K. has licensed roughly US$4.2 billion dollars in weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to PressTV.

Amid the bombing and devastation, the country also faces a severe cholera outbreak that has killed at least 1,828 people since April and famine. Over 12,000 people have been killed, thousands have been displaced and more than a million forced to flee their homes nationwide, according to the U.N.

Last month, Wolfgang Jamann, head of the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief, a non-governmental humanitarian agency, asserted that the current crisis in Yemen is an absolute “shame on humanity.”

Telesur