The United Arab Emirates occupation forces in Yemen have launched regular naval patrols as part of their militarization of the Yemeni island of Socotra on Wednesday.
This was reported by Yemen News Portal, based on local sources.
This development coincides with the completion of the construction of the largest naval base in the west of the island.
According to local sources, the UAE occupation managing director on the island, Khalfan al-Mazroui, has directed the deployment of navy cruisers to monitor the territorial waters.
They noted that the deployment took place in the presence of the commander of the UAE factions on the island, Brigadier General Abdullah al-Soqadri.
The military boats were tasked with small and fast naval boats intercepting ships and keeping them off the coast of the island and monitoring the seas in anticipation of what they described as “hostilities and sabotage.”
The deployment of the military vessels comes days after the UAE completed the construction of its military base in “Ras Qattainan” region in the west of the island, which aims to control international navigation through the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The recent moves of occupation forces have reinforced international and regional concerns about growing piracy and attacks on ships, particularly after Hadi’s government revealed that UAE forces had carried out two attacks on oil vessels in Shabwah in the past few days, targeting a naval submarine while preparing to transport crude oil from the port of Al-Nashima and the other on the coast of Hadhramaut, where gunmen in speedboats attacked an oil tanker belonging to Hadi after it was loaded with an oil shipment of Hadi from the oil port.
