UAE Destroys the Sixth of Yemeni Armored and Air Defense Weapons

A military source in the second military region, which is loyal to the coalition, revealed that UAE forces, in 2017 and 2018, collected, mined and impounded the armored weapons of the region, to backfill a sea tongue in the port of Al-Rayyan, located at Al-Rayyan airport on the coastal strip of Mukalla city, to serve as a base weighing hundreds of thousands of iron tons, enabling it to receive medium and large military ships.

Since its takeover of Hadhramaut in mid-2016, UAE has been using the civilian and commercial port of Mukalla for its military activities and movements, and because Al-Rayyan Airport is located on the coast, it has established a sea tongue and used it as a military port that hides all its movements and the movements of the American forces inside the airport, from the eyes of Hadhramaut people, as Al-Rayyan airport and the port turned into a closed military base, where no Yemeni is allowed to enter.

It should be noted, “The information contained in this investigation is derived from audio recordings of officers in Hadhramaut who were eyewitnesses, and direct statements from others who were aware of all details.”

A military officer in the second military region explained that the armored weapons destroyed by UAE included what represented “one-sixth of the entire Yemeni armored weapon, in addition to that, the air defense force, including air defense systems, surface-to-air missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles, was destroyed,” according to “Al-Masa Press” website.

The site said in its investigation that it had obtained audio recordings from the officer, who declined to reveal his name for his safety proves that the information he discloses is correct for the first time, it includes “the Emirati forces sending a memorandum from the command and control inside Al-Rayyan airport base to the second military region, which carried strict directives to remove all armored vehicles belonging to the military region and all air defense weapons.”

He stressed the “the region’s command implemented the directives immediately, and the process of transferring armored vehicles and air defense weapons continued for a long time, and these weapons were transferred to Al-Rayyan airport from the coastal side on the beach.” In addition, all armored brigades of the second military region have had all their armored weapons withdrawn, which includes the following:

All Russian T-55 tanks and UAE allowed only two tanks to remain inside the second military zone.

Full BMP tanks.

Soviet tracked “Shilka” vehicles.

Artillery.

Full armored vehicles.

The second military region officer indicated that, ”UAE has withdrawn all air defense missiles belonging to the 190th Air Defense Brigade. It is located east of Mukalla, near the airport. The 190th Air Defense Brigade is the only air defense brigade to cover the entire geography of the second military region, where all air brigade’s weapons have been withdrawn, as follows:

All air defense missiles (Volga) are Russian made.

All Soviet air defense missiles (Dvina).

80% of anti-aircraft (m/f), only a very small number of M/I antigens was retained, it was delivered to the Hadhrami Elite Forces to be used as a replacement for the air defense systems that were withdrawn from the 190th Brigade.”

The details also reveal that UAE withdrew from the Hadhrami Elite Forces that UAE had established, what it had handed over from U.S. armored vehicles of Oshkash type, as all the quantity awarded to the elite was subsequently withdrawn.

The press investigation revealed that “ UAE dug a trench five meters deep from the first point of land to the last point reached by the marine shaft, which was established later, inside this trench.”the entire armored corps, including T-55 tanks, BMP tanks, Shilka tanks, cannons and small armored vehicles (storming), was demolished. In another area, large holes were dug and Volga and Dvina air defense missiles and anti-aircraft missiles were placed and completely detonated. Then take the wreckage of the missiles after destroying them, pressed it on top of the tanks and armored vehicles that were placed in the trench at the port. This entire weapon was buried inside the trench.”

Regarding the delay in disclosing this information by the officer in the military region, Al-Masaa Press said, “The reason is that talk began to escalate by members of the second military region concerned with protecting the southern part of eastern Yemen,” including commercial or oil ports.

Questions began to rise about the reason for the inability of the military zone to protect the oil ports that stopped exporting crude oil because it was prevented by the Yemeni army forces affiliated with Sana’a government, which decided to stop the looting of Yemeni crude oil.

This disaster, in which Yemeni officials affiliated with the coalition took part, reminds us of what happened with the air defense systems that destroyed by US embassy in Yemen during the Saleh regime in 2005. Which collected air defense missiles and forced Saleh to hand them over to them and manage them under the pretext of preventing their power from falling into the hands of al-Qaeda.