The UAE is a major coalition partner in the Saudi-led military campaign to quash Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. It has intervened in the country's war since March 2015.Emirati and Saudi forces have sought to prop up the United Nations-recognized government of Abdu Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi after Houthi fighters took over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014.Last month, Reuters reported the UAE had ordered the partial withdrawal of troops from the war-torn country because of domestic security concerns. Abu Dhabi preferred to have forces and equipment close by in case of a further escalation in tensions between the United States and Iran, the Reuters report said, citing three unnamed diplomats.Since May, six oil tankers have been attacked in the Gulf and Tehran has downed an unmanned US drone.But Emirati officials said they reduced their troops in Yemen due to a winding down of the conflict there. "You can't be blind to other geostrategic concerns," the senior official told CNN, referring to the wider security threats in the region. "But fundamentally this is really about Yemen."The official said the draw-down would affect two main areas: the coastal Yemeni city of Hodeidah, where a withdrawal of Houthi forces has been negotiated, and the Eritrean port city of Assab, a staging ground for UAE operations against Houthis in Yemen."We feel in Hodeidah there is a political agreement that we are backing, and it makes a lot of sRead More – Source
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