UAE Stops Providing Financial Support to Some Military Units in Yemen

The United Arab Emirates will stop allocating budgets for Yemeni military units receiving financial support without the approval of the UN-recognized government in Yemen, military sources told Sheba Intelligence on Tuesday.

The UAE has been financially backing military units since it participated in the Saudi-led Arab coalition, which began a military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen in 2015.

The sources indicated that there have been widespread complaints from officers and soldiers of the Second Military Region in Mukalla of Hadramout. The complaints came after Abu Dhabi stopped the salaries of members of four brigades from the Hadhrami elite. Abu Dhabi was also giving bonuses and budgets for nutrition and training for the rest of the brigades of the second military region. However, it stopped that financial support.

Sheba Intelligence learned that the UAE also suspended the financial support to  Hadhrami Elite Forces, Shabwah Elite Forces, the Security Belt Forces in Aden, and the National Resistance Forces on the West Coast.

The sources said that the UAE has maintained the budgets of some military brigades that have intelligence missions, such as the Rapid Intervention Brigade in Al-Rabwa in Hadhramout, Force 400 on the West Coast (an intelligence agency run by Ammar Saleh), and the intelligence of the Salafist Giants and the Southern Transitional Council Forces.

Regarding the UAE’s move to stop providing the budgets of important military units in Yemen, sources suggested two scenarios. The first may be a move to show good intentions to Riyadh to reduce the escalation due to Abu Dhabi’s support for secession in Yemen. The second scenario is part of the UAE’s policy to reorganize its priorities in Yemen.

Sheba Intelligence obtained information revealing that the UAE-funded Rapid Intervention Forces in the Rabwah camp in Hadramout lately attacked leaders of the Hadrami Elite Forces.

In a statement released a few days ago, the Hadhramout Tribal Alliance acknowledged the attack, holding the UAE responsible for all violations against Hadhramaut, saying that the UAE is “responsible for supporting politically motivated agendas.” The statement called for unifying all military forces within Hadhramaut under a unified military region.