Yemen: Popular anger escalates over UAE’s occupation of Socotra

Popular anger has escalated in Yemen over the UAE’s occupation of Socotra and the beginning of establishing military bases for intelligence purposes there in coordination with Israel.

The popular anger was reflected in a mass demonstration that was organized in southern Yemen to confirm the rejection of any step aimed at establishing military bases belonging to Israel or its allies, stressing that normalization with Israel is a betrayal of the Palestinian cause. The city of Taiz, south Sanaa, witnessed protests demanding the removal of the Emirati forces from the strategically located island.

The protesters confirmed their rejection of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council’s calls with regard to the secession of the south, and chanted slogans against the Houthi group.

A Yemeni government source confirmed the arrival of an Emirati ship to the Yemeni port of Socotra, bearing the name “Ed Astra”. The nature of contents are unknown.

The source added that Socotra has become completely under the control of the UAE, and that Yemeni officials do not know what is going on there.

And at the end of last August, the US site, South Front, specialized in military research, revealed the UAE and Israel’s intention to establish military and intelligence facilities on Socotra.

The website, said that a delegation that included Emirati and Israeli officers had recently visited the island and examined several sites with the aim of establishing intelligence facilities.

Last Tuesday, the sheikh of the tribes of the Socotra Archipelago, Issa Salem bin Yaqut, accused the UAE and Saudi Arabia of binging Israel to the island.

On June 19, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, which demands the secession of southern Yemen from its north, took control of Hadibo, the capital of Socotra.