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Satellite imagery has revealed the construction of a new airstrip on the volcanically erupting island of Zukar. red sea off the coast of Yemen. The development is believed to be the country’s latest project against Iranian-backed forces Houthi Rebel.
The facility adds another important link to the growing network of offshore military bases in a region vital to global shipping. Houthi militants has already attacked more than 100 ships, sinking four and causing the deaths of at least nine sailors Israel-Hamas conflict,
Such an airstrike could provide the military with comprehensive aerial surveillance capabilities across the Red Sea Gulf of Adenand the strategically narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait, connecting these waterways between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. However, the exact trigger for its potential military deployment remains unknown.
Request for comment from united arab emiratesWhich led to the construction of similar regional runways, remained unanswered. Yemen’s anti-Houthi factions, divided by internal conflicts and unable to mount a unified attack despite intense US and Israeli bombing campaigns targeting the rebels, also declined to respond.
In recent months, anti-Houthi forces have been able to interdict more goods destined for the Houthis, a presence at Zukar that may provide some help.
“The possibility of a new Yemeni offensive against the Houthis, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, cannot be ruled out, although I don’t see it coming close,” said Eleonora Ardemagni, an analyst at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies who has long studied Yemen.
“There is another important point in my view regarding the construction in Zuqar: countering the smuggling activities of the Houthis, especially regarding weapons,” he said.
A runway on a strategic island
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the construction of a roughly 2,000-metre (6,560-foot) runway on Zukar Island, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida, a major shipping hub.
Photos show that work on building a dock on the island began in April, followed by clearing of land in place of the runway. By the end of August, asphalt was being laid across the runway. Images from October show work continuing, with runway markings painted in the middle of the month.
No one has claimed construction. However, ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP shows that the Batsa, a Togo-flagged bulk carrier registered to a Dubai-based maritime firm, spent about a week alongside the new dock at Zukar Island after arriving from Berbera. somalilandSite of DP World Port. DP World declined to comment.
Saif Shipping & Marine Services, a Dubai-based maritime company, admitted receiving orders to deliver asphalt to the island to be used in the construction of the runway on behalf of other UAE-based firms. Other Emirati-based maritime companies have been involved in other airstrip construction projects in Yemen, which were later linked to the UAE.
The UAE is believed to be behind several runway projects in Yemen in recent years. At Mocha on the Red Sea, a project to expand that city’s airport now allows it to land much larger aircraft. Local officials blamed the project on the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms including Abu Dhabi. DubaiNearby Dhubab now also has a runway.
The second runway is on Abd al-Kuri Island in the Indian Ocean near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. And another runway built by the UAE is on Mayun Island, also in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. An anti-Houthi separatist force in Yemen known as the Southern Transitional Council, long supported by the United Arab Emirates, controls the island and acknowledged the UAE’s role in building the airport.
Targeting Houthi shipments
Zukar Island is a strategic location in the Red Sea. eritrea The island was captured in 1995 after fighting with the Yemeni army. In 1998 an international court formally incorporated the island into Yemen’Custody of.
The island was again engulfed in war in 2014 after the Houthis captured Yemen’s capital Sanaa and began marching south, with rebels taking control of Zuqar.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered the war in 2015 on behalf of the country’s exiled government, preventing the Houthi advance. They also defeated the Houthis off Dzuqar, retaking the island, which has become a staging post for naval forces loyal to Tariq Saleh, the nephew of Yemen’s late strongman leader Tariq Saleh. Ali Abdullah Saleh,
The younger Saleh, who once allied with the Houthis before his uncle defected and was killed by rebels, is backed by the United Arab Emirates.
Since then, the front lines of the war have remained stable for years.
What changed was that the Houthis took their campaign globally with attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It also followed a weeks-long campaign of intense airstrikes, known as Operation Rough Rider, launched by the United States and continuing attacks by Israel, which appears to be closing in on the Houthis’ top leadership despite the rebels’ penchant for secrecy.
“The Houthis, like any rebel group, do not win by losing,” Yemen expert Gregory D. Johnson wrote in June. “That’s how the group has survived and evolved through each of its wars.”
Although a loose coalition of anti-Houthi groups exists, it is fragmented and did not carry out any attacks during the US air strikes. But the network of airports around Yemen is expanding as anti-Houthi forces have made several significant seizures of weapons likely destined for the rebels – including a large consignment that was praised by the US military’s Central Command.
“A potential Emirati airstrip in Zuqar could help improve surveillance and monitoring along the Hodeida coast to better support Yemeni forces in combating smuggling,” Ardemagni said.