Battle for Aden. Colombian mercenaries against al-Qaeda
It seems that Saudi Arabia has already fought in Yemen. On Wednesday, at a press conference in Riyadh, the Kingdom's Defense Minister Adel al-Jubeir said he sees signs that the standoff is approaching.
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On the one hand, this is the readiness for negotiations between the Shiite Houthi rebels and their military allies who remained loyal to the ousted President Saleh. On the other hand, according to al-Jubeir, “most of the territories in Yemen captured by the rebels were recaptured” by the forces of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
A Houthi militia in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
However, one can argue with the last thesis. The only major success of the Coalition was the capture of the city of Aden, where, under the protection of UAE special forces, the new Yemeni authorities, recognized by the international community, hastened to arrive. But even this city they do not control entirely. After that how the hotel they were in was attacked at the beginning of the month Al-Qaeda militants in the Arabian Peninsula who had sworn allegiance to the Caliphate, Prime Minister Khaled Baha and his officials chose to leave the country again. By now, al-Qaeda already controls several areas of Aden and continues its offensive.
Saudi military in Aden
And the other day information appeared that the Emirates are recruiting mercenaries on the other side of the globe - in Latin America, specifically for actions in Yemen. Details of this story appeared in a number of Latin American media. On Monday, continent-wide television channel Telesur reported that more than 800 Colombians had arrived in Aden to fight. The Colombian daily Tiempo reports that the first 100 mercenaries arrived on the Arabian Peninsula in early October.
A former Colombian special forces officer told the publication that his compatriots are attracted by high salaries and good conditions of service. After a peace agreement was reached between the country's government and the notorious FARK rebel group this year, a large number of Colombian security forces were left out of work. However, the demand for these experienced and seasoned fighters has arisen in the Gulf countries. News site Colombia Reports details the terms of the contract: $1000 a week for three months, as well as immediate citizenship of the United Arab Emirates.
Colombian Army Special Forces
This is not the first time for the UAE to attract Colombian mercenaries. Back in 2011, the first of them for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan were recruited by the famous founder of the Blackwater PMC, Erik Prince.
However, the war in Yemen is not only on land and land, but also at sea. On Tuesday, the official Twitter account of the Royal Saudi Air Force published a video of the destruction of a ship carrying weapons and ammunition for the Houthi rebels. Previously, the SA has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying weapons by sea to its fellow Shiites. The ship was attacked at the moment when several boats approached it to transport cargo to the shore.
However, successes at sea also occur among opponents of the Arab coalition. The Houthis' allies, the Yemeni military loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, used a missile to sink one of the ships shelling from the sea the port of Moha on the Red Sea, for which there is now fighting between the forces of the warring parties. This is the third report in a month that Yemenis have destroyed coalition ships.
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