Islam Times - Yemen's FM Calls on UAE, Saudi Arabia to Quit War Immediately

Islam Times - Yemeni Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf Abdullah says authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia should not count on promises of military support from their foreign allies, advising them to take sensible decisions to stop Yemen from turning into their nightmare.

"Emirati and Saudi officials should not be deceived by pledges of military support from outsiders. They must rather work towards promotion of peace and establishment of cordial ties, stop daydreaming they can advance their own political agendas in Yemen and avoid supporting the clique of Mansur Hadi, who are the main beneficiaries of the ongoing Yemen conflict," Abdullah said.

The senior Yemeni diplomat also lambasted latest remarks by the UAE’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, stating that her comments are meant to prevent an international investigation that will hold Abu Dhabi responsible for last week’s deadly airstrike against a temporary detention center in Yemen’s northwestern province of Sa’ada, which claimed the lives of at least 90 people and left many more injured.

Abdullah went on to say that the UAE is involved in a meaningless military campaign against Yemen, stating that Emirati rulers are under the illusion that they would be able to assert control over Yemeni territories and financial resources at last.

He stressed that Yemeni army troops and fighters from their allied Popular Committees avoided targeting the UAE after the Persian Gulf country announced it was disengaging from the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

“But then again, the UAE showed it was still part of the Saudi-led coalition of aggression and deeply enmeshed in the conflict. The approach prompted Yemeni forces to take proper actions,” Abdullah said.

He emphasized that Yemeni armed forces are entitled to use all their military capabilities to defend their nation against any source of threat.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Monday, spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated that Yemeni troops and their allies had hit al- Dhafra Air Base, located approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Abu Dhabi, as well as other designated sites on the outskirts of the Emirati capital with barrages of Zulfiqar ballistic missiles during Operation Yemen Hurricane II.

Saree noted that important targets in Dubai were struck with indigenous long-endurance Sammad-3 (Invincible-3) unmanned aerial vehicles.

The senior military official added that Yemeni armed forces also used squadrons of Sammad-1 and Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drones to hit a number of military camps in the Sharurah town of Saudi Arabia’s southern region of Najran.