The United Arab Emirates has announced it will reduce the number of its forces in Yemen as part of a ‘strategic’ redeployment, designed to support a United Nations-led peace process that began in Stockholm last December.
The UAE will remain in the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in 2015 to restore the Yemeni government ousted by the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran, but the focus of its remaining forces will pivot towards counter-terrorism efforts against al-Qaida and Islamic State.
Analysts say the reduction in force by the UAE will weaken Saudi Arabia’s position in Yemen, adding pressure on Saudi officials to pursue a political rather than military solution to the war.