Page 8 - MEOG Week 05 2022

MEOG POLICY & SECURITY MEOG

Tensions heighten on Yemen

conflict as Houthis target UAE again

YEMEN/UAE THE Iran-backed Houthi militia this week tar- neighbouring Ma’rib to the west, which are home
geted Abu Dhabi and Dubai with another drone to the majority of Yemen’s oil and gas reserves.
attack on the UAE as fighters trained by the Over the past decade the Houthis have
Emirates continued their success in oil-rich areas expanded their reach beyond the Sa’dah in the
of Yemen. On January 31, the UAE’s Ministry of far north-west, along the border with Saudi, pro-
Defence said that its air force had intercepted gressing south and east, taking the capital Sana’a
and destroyed a ballistic missile near the capi- in 2014, resulting in the ongoing civil war and
tal, while the Houthis claimed to have targeted prompting Riyadh’s intervention.
Dubai with drones. The group pushed into Ma’rib and Shabwa
The moves come as part of a tit-for-tat last year, taking control of key oil and gas assets,
approach that saw the Houthis attack Abu and the central provinces have become the most
Dhabi National Oil Co.’s (ADNOC) Mussafah important areas of conflict between the belliger-
fuel depot in mid-January in what was the first ents, with the focus of fighting shifting from the
major strike suffered by the UAE in years. Sim- western coastal province of Hodeidah.
ilar moves to target oil infrastructure in Saudi In addition to its oilfields, Shabwa is home
Arabia have become a regular occurrence, but to the port of Balhaf, the location of the Yemen
the UAE is now coming into the crosshairs as the LNG terminal. According to lead stakeholder
Yemeni militants seek revenge for recent Emirati TotalEnergies, in April 2017 the Yemeni gov-
support in suppressing their expansion. ernment “requisitioned some of the Balhaf
The Mussafah attack came shortly after the facilities, which were de facto unused, for the
15,000-strong UAE-backed al-Amaliqa (Giants) coalition forces supporting the government”. It
Brigade reported that it had taken full control of added, though, that the plant remains in “good
the Shabwa governorate and the Harib district in condition” despite damage to the Yemen LNG
the south of the Ma’rib governorate. pipeline.
In a statement to AFP, the group said: “After
the great success achieved by the Giants Brigades Emirati security
… it began transferring its brigades to the main While the conflict rages on in Yemen, the UAE’s
headquarters”, adding that troops were being energy minister moved to ease concerns the
repositioned to push north towards Ma’rib city, country’s energy infrastructure following the
over which the Houthis are seeking to assume recent attacks.
control. Speaking to S&P Global Platts during an
Meanwhile, Xinhua quoted an official with event in Dubai this week, Suhail al-Mazrouei
the pro-Yemeni government forces as saying: said: “I can assure you that our infrastructure
“The Houthis are now attempting to retaliate is safe. We haven’t seen any interruption of the
by using ballistic missiles and explosive-laden businesses in our ports, very smooth operations.”
drones [in] attacks in addition to planting land- He added: “Unfortunately all of the countries
mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).” around the world are dealing with that threat.
Fighting between government forces with But we are very confident that we are securing
Saudi Arabian and Emirati backing and the Iran- our infrastructure and we are having no impact
backed Houthis has centred around Shabwa and and no issues.”™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 05 02•February•2022