The UAE has begun dismantling parts of a military base it used in Eritrea for transporting heavy weapons and troops to Yemen, following its withdrawal from the Yemeni war.
According to the Associated Press, the UAE had invested millions of dollars in developing a port, expanding an airstrip, and establishing other infrastructure at the base, which was built by Italian colonizers in the 1930s in the Eritrean city of Assab on the Red Sea. This site has been used since September 2015 as a base for transferring heavy weapons and troops to Yemen. The UN experts noted that the UAE previously deployed various combat vehicles at this base, including Leclerc tanks, G6 howitzers, and BMP-3 armored vehicles. Attack helicopters, drones, and other types of military aircraft were also spotted at the base.
Barracks were built at the base to host Emirati, Yemeni, and Sudanese military personnel who were transported to Aden aboard the SWIFT-1 ship, which was attacked by Houthi forces in 2016. Additionally, Michael Knights, a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, confirmed to the agency that the base included one of the best field hospitals in the Middle East. The base was reportedly used to detain prisoners held by the Saudi-led Arab coalition amidst the prolonged conflict in Yemen.
However, recent developments suggest that the UAE has likely reached the "limits of its expansion in the troubled Yemeni conflict," as reported by experts. New satellite images indicate that after announcing its troop withdrawal from Yemen in the summer of 2019, this Gulf state has started removing equipment from the base and even dismantling newly constructed facilities. Images taken by Planet Labs around the time of Abu Dhabi's announcement of troop withdrawal show workers demolishing structures believed to be barracks near the port, with well-organized rows of materials and equipment collected in the northern part of the port, likely awaiting shipment.
