FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Qatar Sends 1,000 Ground Troops to Yemen in First Deployment

Qatari pilots have joined months of Saudi-led air strikes on the Houthis, an Iran-allied group that seized Sanaa last year, but this would be the first ground involvement by the Gulf state.
Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA

Qatar has deployed around 1,000 troops to Yemen, supported by armored vehicles and helicopters, the Doha-based broadcaster Al Jazeera reported on Monday. This would be the Gulf state's first reported ground involvement in the Saudi-backed offensive against the dominant Houthi group.

Military sources said Qatari forces were on their way to Yemen and preparing to join a new push on Houthi positions in the capital Sanaa — though they told Reuters the soldiers had not yet entered the Arabian Peninsula country.

Advertisement

Qatari pilots have joined months of Saudi-led air strikes on the Houthis, an Iran-allied group that seized Sanaa last year, advanced across the country and forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile in March.

The reported involvement of Qatari ground troops came amid an escalation of the conflict days after a missile strike that killed dozens of Gulf Arab soldiers. Al Jazeera's English website said 1,000 Qatari soldiers, backed by 200 armoured vehicles and 30 Apache helicopters had been sent to Yemen.

The Qatari foreign ministry made no immediate comment on the report.

Watch the VICE News documentary, Seeking Refuge in Djibouti: Escape From Yemen:

A Qatar-based defence source said the number of Qatari troops was less than 1,000. "They are as of now not deployed in Yemen but in Saudi Arabia to protect the border," the source added.

But a local Yemeni official in the oil-producing Marib province east of Sanaa said the Qatari contingent had "crossed al-Wadia border post" between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and were heading to Marib — where Hadi loyalists have been preparing for an offensive against Sanaa.

The Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper said on Monday that Saudi Arabia had also sent "huge reinforcements" of its elite forces, along with Qatari troops, to Marib.

"Final preparations are being made for a decisive battle, before moving on to liberate Sanaa," al-Hayat said. Gulf Arab states see the Houthis as proxies for non-Arab Iran, which they accuse of trying to extend its influence into Arab countries, including Syria and Yemen.

Advertisement

Saudi-led forces have helped Hadi supporters drive the Houthis out of the southern port city of Aden in July but have made little progress in other areas since, where the fighting in the Marib and the central city of Taiz remains bogged down.

Related: Saudi Arabia's Troops Have Crossed Into Yemen for the First Time

On Friday, a rocket fired by the Houthis at a coalition military camp in Marib destroyed an arms depot and killed 64 soldiers, including 45 Emiratis, 10 Saudis, and five Bahrainis.

Jean-Marc Rickli, assistant professor at King's College London and teacher at the military's Qatar National Defence College, told Reuters: "It is the first time that Qatari ground forces have been deployed in Yemen. So far, the Qatari contribution was only through its air force."

"This force will probably take part in the overall war effort to retake the capital after the coalition successfully recaptured Aden last month," he added.

Follow VICE News on Twitter: @vicenews