Yemen Monitor/Marib:
As military operations escalate in the Red Sea, Abu Dhabi is closely monitoring the Yemeni archipelago located at the entrance to vital shipping lanes.
The French intelligence newsletter Intelligence Online reported that the UAE armed forces conducted a full space survey of Socotra Island a few weeks ago.
The newsletter added that the UAE relied on the Geely Space monitoring satellites company, owned by the Chinese group Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd (CGSTL).
According to the newsletter, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation is being used as a cover for the presence of Emirati military forces in Socotra.
Sources had spoken to “Yemen Monitor” that Abu Dhabi had offered Washington the use of its military base in Abd al-Kuri to lead operations against the Houthis in Yemen. Later, a television station close to Abu Dhabi said that the United States had deployed missile defenses in Socotra Archipelago Governorate.
Last March, recent satellite images showed a new airstrip being built on the Yemeni island of Socotra and a phrase written “I love the UAE”.
Both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, through which it passes, have become a battleground between the Houthis and US-led forces in the region as the Israeli war on Gaza Strip intensifies – which could allow the Gulf state to extend its power in the region.
