Middle East

Emirati soldier succumbs to injuries sustained in Yemen

UAE is second largest contributor to Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthis and their allies in Yemen

21.09.2016 - Update : 21.09.2016
Emirati soldier succumbs to injuries sustained in Yemen File photo

By Ahmed al-Masri

TAIZ, Yemen

A soldier from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has succumbed to injuries sustained in Yemen where he had been taking part in a Saudi-led coalition against the Shia Houthi militia, the official Emirates News Agency reported late Tuesday.

The news agency quoted UAE military officials as saying the soldier had died at a hospital in France where he had been receiving treatment.

No further details were given, however, as to how -- or where in Yemen -- the soldier was injured.

In a related development, spokesmen for Yemen’s pro-government "popular resistance" forces said 11 Houthi militiamen had been killed -- and eight pro-government fighters injured -- in clashes in Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz.

Yemen has been dogged by mounting insecurity since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

The conflict escalated in March of last year, when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies -- including the UAE -- launched a massive campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains in Yemen and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Since then, scores of military personnel from the Saudi-led coalition have been killed in Yemen fighting the Houthis and their allies, including dozens of troops from the UAE, which is the coalition’s second largest contributor after Saudi Arabia.

Two rounds of earlier peace talks failed to end the conflict, in which thousands of Yemenis have been killed and at least 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.

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