PLANET LABS PBC VIA AP
This satellite photo taken through Planet Labs PBC shows the structure of an airstrip on Abd al-Kuri Island, Yemen.
SEOUL, South Korea > As Yemen’s Houthi rebels continue to attack ships in a Middle Eastern waterway, satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press shows what appears to be a new airstrip under a structure at the front of this sea route.
No country has publicly claimed responsibility for the structure of Abd al-Kuri Island, an expanse of land jutting out of the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. However, satellite images taken for the AP appear to show staff detailing “I LOVE UAE” on piles of dirt next to the runway, short for the United Arab Emirates.
The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea will become a battleground between the Houthis and U. S. -led forces in the region as Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues, potentially allowing one country to shift its strength in the region. .
This comes as the presence of Emirati troops in Abd al-Kuri’s Socotra island chain – and that of the separatist force he backs in southern Yemen – has led to clashes in the past.
Reacting to questions from the AP, the United Arab Emirates said Thursday that “any UAE presence on the island of Socotra is due to humanitarian reasons and is carried out in cooperation with the Yemeni government and local authorities. “
“The UAE remains steadfast in its commitment to all foreign efforts to facilitate the resumption of the Yemeni political process, thereby promoting the security, stability and prosperity sought by the Yemeni people,” he added, explaining further.
Yemen’s embassy in Washington and Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition fighting the Houthis, responded to questions.
Abd al-Kuri is about 35 kilometers (21. 75 miles) long and about five kilometers (3. 11 miles) at its widest point. It is closer to the Horn of Africa than to Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world, which has been at war for years.
Along this wider point is the runway structure. Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed via AP showed trucks and other cars leveling the runway on March 11, staining some of its sandy features dark brown. Images of the site taken through Planet Labs According to the AP on Monday, Tuesday and today showed cars in other positions and active work underway, likely adding paving of the site.
The runway, which runs from north to south, is about 3 kilometers (1. 86 miles) long. A runway of this length can accommodate attack, surveillance, and sealift aircraft, even some of the heaviest bombers.
According to photographs from Planet Labs, the structural paintings will be visible for the first time in the domain in January 2022, with a shorter diagonal track dug into the sand. The first signs of the structure of the longest north-south runway date back to July 2022. , but then the painting stopped.
This month, activity has increased at Abd al-Kuri, structural paintings at the northern end of the track, near the water, and heavy vehicle traffic.
This corresponds to a report published last week through Abu Dhabi’s official Sky News Arabia channel, which purported to quote an unnamed U. S. defense official as saying that the U. S. had “beefed up our missile defenses on the island of Socotra” in anticipation of attacks on U. S. bases. Socotra is the main island in the Socotra mountain range, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Abd al-Kuri.
The U. S. military told the AP it was not concerned about Abd al-Kuri’s structure and that there was no U. S. “military presence” elsewhere in Yemen. Special forces have introduced incursions into Yemen in the past, while a two-decade crusade of U. S. drone movements has targeted al-Qaida’s local associate in the country.
There were also no air defense batteries around the Abd al-Kuri Island site in the satellite imagery. However, what appear to be piles of dirt at the site had been arranged to write “I LOVE the UAE” just east of the track.
The UNESCO World Heritage-listed island of Socotra and home to the rare dragon’s blood tree, has long been a strategic port due to its location in a key east-west industrial direction for goods and energy shipments from Asia and the Middle East to Europe. . . The Soviet Union once used Socotra as an anchor for its surface fleet and submarines when South Yemen, a communist country in Aden, ruled the island from 1967 to 1990.
Since then, the island has been a far cry from the chaos that rocked Yemen in the decades since, from unification to civil war and massive access by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to the capital in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition that includes the United States The United Arab Emirates entered Yemen’s war in 2015 on behalf of the country’s government-in-exile and have since been caught up in a bitter standoff that has lasted nearly a decade.
In 2018, the United Arab Emirates deployed troops to the island of Socotra, sparking a standoff with Yemen’s government-in-exile. Two years later, clashes broke out between Yemeni separatists subsidized through the United Arab Emirates and other Yemeni forces.
Meanwhile, media outlets linked to Iran and the Houthis claimed, without offering evidence, that the Emiratis had also allowed Israel to operate from Socotra. Israel has not declared any presence there, and the Israeli prime minister declined to comment.
Since November, the Houthis have been attacking ships, saying they need to force Israel to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. However, ships attacked by rebels typically have little or no ties to Israel, the United States or other countries involved in the war. The rebels have also fired missiles into Israel, but they have largely missed or been intercepted.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he withdrew from the Saudi-led coalition, declaring, “This war will have to end. “But in January, the U. S. began launching airstrikes against the Houthis because of their attacks on ships, a crusade. of almost daily attacks that continues today.
The Abd el-Kuri airfield is not the first mysterious airstrip to begin construction amid the war in Yemen. In 2021, AP reported that an airfield was being built on Mayun Island, also known as Perim Island, which is located in the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea.
Yemen’s military officials around the world then identified the government, subsidized through the Saudi-led coalition since 2015, as saying the UAE was building the runway. The Saudi-led coalition that fought the Houthis in the past declared that it had “equipment” on the island. while a defense forces leader and nephew of Yemen’s former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh declared that his UAE-subsidized troops were stationed there.
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