UAE confirms Yemen drawdown

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has confirmed it is withdrawing troops from Yemen in what it says is a long-planned move.

An Emirati G6 self-propelled howitzer is seen in a photograph released via the UAE's official news agency in June 2018, when the start of the Al-Hudaydah offensive was announced. The UAE was already planning to withdraw its forces at that time, according to an Emirati official. (Emirates News Agency (WAM))

The withdrawal was first reported on 28 June by Reuters, which cited Western diplomatic sources as saying that the UAE was scaling back its commitment to the Saudi-led coalition as it wanted to have its forces home in case US–Iran tensions escalated into conflict.

On 2 July The Wall Street Journal cited Western officials as saying that the UAE was withdrawing hundreds of soldiers and their equipment from the campaign against the Ansar Allah rebel group (Houthis) in the north but would continue to maintain a presence elsewhere in the country to counter Sunni extremist groups.

The Western officials indicated that Abu Dhabi was worried about growing US opposition to the war against Ansar Allah and concerns about escalating tensions with Iran.

A UAE official confirmed the drawdown to journalists in an 8 July briefing in Dubai but denied it was prompted by the Iran situation, saying it had been planned for more than a year as part of a shift from a “military first strategy to a peace-first strategy”.