Yemen counter-terrorism mission shows UAE military ambition
(REUTERS)- The United Arab Emirates, one of Washington’s closest allies in the Middle East, is deploying its military against al Qaeda in Yemen, and in the process providing what some see as a badly-needed new template for counter-terrorism in Arab lands.
UAE special forces are orchestrating the hunt for al Qaeda in remote deserts and mountains, adding the capability of Arab troops seasoned in war zones like Afghanistan and Somalia to a campaign long the preserve of the U.S. and Yemeni militaries.
Suicide attacks killing 38 in Mukalla on Monday show the challenge. While the UAE helped to eject al Qaeda from the southern coastal city in April, militant threats persist – the latest attack was claimed by Islamic State, in Yemen a lesser force than al Qaeda.
The Emiratis deployed initially against a different foe – Yemen’s Houthi group, joining a Saudi-led campaign last year to try to reverse a bid for national power by a group seen by many Gulf Arabs as a proxy for regional arch-rival Iran.
The war weakened the Houthis, but in the resulting turmoil al Qaeda swept across the eastern side of the country, seizing more land than it had ever held and raising tens of millions of dollars from running Mukalla, the country’s third largest port.
The UAE’s al Qaeda push meets a demand made repeatedly by Washington that Gulf Arabs do more to ensure their own security.
But a so-called “Obama Doctrine” of relying on local allies instead of big U.S. military deployments abroad to fight militant jihadis has been seen as stumbling in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, despite funding and training of local partners.