The people of Yemen have endured hardship and lawlessness for months now — ever since Al Houthi rebels overthrew the legitimate administration of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi. And because of the chaos that resulted, terrorist elements tied to both Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and Al Qaida have used the instability to lay down roots and profit from the political, social and economic vacuum. Al Qaida has festered in Yemen for years, using the Arabian Peninsula to further its nefarious plots and murderous deeds.
With Al Houthi rebels now finally willing to talk peace, the Saudi-led international coalition that intervened militarily in Yemen to restore the government, rebuild the battered nation and provide a brighter and safer future for all Yemenis can now focus on eradicating those terrorist elements from its strongholds.
On Monday, the Saudi-led forces — of which the UAE is proud to play an important and brotherly role — retook the Al Qaida stronghold of Al Mukalla, ridding Yemen’s fifth-largest city and strategic port of the terrorists. According to reports from the city of 500,000, an estimated 800 Al Qaida terrorists were killed in air strikes and the retaking of the city and port.
Regaining Al Mukalla sends a clear message to Al Qaida and others that there is no place in Yemen, or indeed anywhere else in this region, for those who terrorise, plot, murder, extort and scheme to spread lawlessness and hatred. The people of Yemen can always count on the backing of their Arab brothers in safeguarding them from the forces of extremism. Ridding Yemen of these terrorists is a precursor to restoring the country’s government, making sure it can administer all of its provinces, build hospitals and bridges, provide services and water to its people and ensure that infrastructure and humanitarian aid are available to all those in need.
The Arab coalition, which is acting with the backing and mandate from the United Nations Security Council, will ensure that all of Yemen’s people and provinces will have the conditions in place for peace to prosper. During Al Qaida’s control of Al Mukalla and the oil-exporting port of Al Shihr, the terrorists used any and every opportunity to fill their coffers with ill-gotten gains. And while they extorted funds and levies from all and sundry, ordinary Yemenis struggled to find the bare basics on which to survive.
The liberation of Al Mukalla is a good days’ work, but there are other challenges now. Those will be met and the people of Yemen will never be abandoned.
