US Website: UAE Secretly Supported Houthis Against Government Forces

The American website "Drop Site News," citing four informed sources, reported that the UAE is secretly providing assistance to the Houthi group in their confrontation with Saudi-backed government forces. This includes exchanging intelligence and helping to identify targets within Yemen, while the group has denied receiving any Emirati support, asserting that Abu Dhabi remains neutral.

According to the website, UAE-allied forces are assisting the Houthis in identifying targets during their battles against Saudi-backed government forces, while Abu Dhabi turns a blind eye.

The report, citing two sources familiar with the arrangement, stated that the Emirati assistance also included a direct exchange of intelligence with the Houthis to target Saudi-backed forces.

A source familiar with the backchannel communication with the group told the website that "the UAE has transferred a significant amount of intelligence to the Sana'a government, and the communication line between the two sides remains open."

The source added that the Houthis have established their own communication channels with military commanders still loyal to the UAE, noting that the sources who spoke to the website requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about these arrangements.

According to some sources, the Emirati assistance is limited to exchanging intelligence and identifying targets within Yemen, and does not include providing information or support for targeting inside Saudi Arabia.

The report mentioned that a senior US official recently warned the UAE that Washington was aware of the secret assistance provided to the Houthis and urged them to stop it, while the sources said the intelligence exchange is still ongoing. 

The UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, did not respond to requests for comment, according to the website.

Houthis Deny 

In contrast, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior official in the Houthi group, denied that the UAE provided any support to the group, stressing that Abu Dhabi is committed to neutrality and has refused to participate in military operations alongside Saudi Arabia.

Al-Bukhaiti told "Drop Site News": "The UAE has not provided any form of support to Yemen, neither against Saudi Arabia nor against its proxies inside Yemen."

He added that the UAE, according to the group's information, remains committed to neutrality and has refused to rejoin the war alongside Saudi Arabia, despite what he described as continuous efforts by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to persuade it to join.

The report noted that if this information is true, the UAE's provision of direct assistance to the Houthis represents a remarkable development given the ideological and geopolitical divergence between the two parties; the UAE has close ties with the United States and "Israel," while the Houthis have close ties with Iran, according to the report.

UAE-Saudi Disagreements Over Yemen

The website stated that Saudi Arabia marginalized the UAE's role in Yemen earlier this year, while current military developments may allow Abu Dhabi to regain a strategic foothold in the country.

It pointed out that the UAE allied with Saudi Arabia in 2015 as part of the coalition supporting the Yemeni government, after the Houthis took control of Sana'a in 2014 and expanded south from their stronghold in the northern highlands.

However, the goals and ambitions of the two sides diverged during the war, creating a split within the anti-Houthi camp. 

According to the report, these disagreements led to clashes in December of last year between UAE-backed forces and Saudi-backed military units in southern Yemen, which effectively forced the UAE out of the country.

"Drop Site News" quoted "The Guardian" as saying, in a report published earlier this month, that the UAE is returning to the Yemeni conflict alongside Saudi Arabia after agreeing to resume some payments to forces it previously supported.

The website suggested that this support would come through backing the Giants Brigades, which it described as a predominantly Salafist force that ideologically opposes the Houthis, with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 fighters, most of whom are from the south.

The pro-government Giants Brigades are, according to the report, fighting to control the Kahboub mountain range overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

However, the Yemeni source who spoke to the website said that potential support for these forces has not materialized on the battlefield, adding that many commanders of the Giants Brigades deceived the Saudi-backed forces by repeatedly withdrawing from their positions without engagement or confrontation.

The source also said that commanders of military units belonging to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) refrained from fighting the Houthis, which, as he described, led to the stalling of battlefronts, especially in the Dhale and Lahj governorates adjacent to Taiz governorate, in addition to their repeated withdrawals from their positions.

UAE and STC Deny Communication Channels with Houthis

In contrast, a senior Emirati official denied to "Drop Site News" that the dissolved Southern Transitional Council (STC) has any communication channels with the Houthis, also denying that the council refuses to fight the group in southern Yemen.

Amr al-Beidh, the special representative of the head of the dissolved STC, told the website that the council continuously and publicly declares that the Southern Armed Forces will not participate in military operations in northern Yemen, stressing that this does not mean a lack of will to confront the Houthis.

Al-Beidh added that any Houthi advance towards the south will be met with resistance, calling for a distinction between the policy of non-participation in military operations in the north and the commitment to defending the south against the group.

Military Escalation Between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis

The report covered recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, noting that the group launched an offensive towards the Red Sea coast last month, during which, according to the website, it managed to defeat Saudi-backed forces and establish control over the Bab el-Mandeb strait, described as one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and an important alternative to the embattled Strait of Hormuz.

It added that Saudi Arabia's attempts to reclaim the territories it lost have yielded no significant results, and that Riyadh has since intensified its bombing of Sana'a and other Houthi-controlled areas, while the group has launched several attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The website mentioned that Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia included strikes targeting the country's main airport, one of which resulted in 12 deaths and over 300 injuries, and also led to the cancellation of the Future Investment Initiative conference, known as "Davos in the Desert."

Neither the White House nor a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition responded to requests for comment, according to "Drop Site News."