Revealed: UK troops ‘secretly operating in Yemen’


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The British personnel are said to be based at Al-Ghaydah airport in Mahra province of eastern Yemen, where Human Rights Watch says Saudi forces run a prison camp in which detainees are subject to torture and extraordinary rendition.

British troops are believed to have been based at the airport for months. A local journalist who was embedded with Saudi forces at the airport, Naser Hakem Abdullah Awidh, told Declassified he has seen British troops there this year.

He claimed: &ldquo\;They are a fully-fledged force. We can&rsquo\;t say they are minor.&rdquo\; The British forces allegedly spend their days off conducting tourist trips in civilian clothes to local archaeological sites.

Hameed Zaabnoot, a tribal sheikh who has led sit-in protests against the presence of Saudi forces in Mahra province, told Declassified that staff at Al-Ghaydah airport have seen British troops inside.

Zaabnoot understands that British forces are located in designated parts of the airport. He said: &ldquo\;The tasks assigned to them so far are military training and logistical support, either for Saudi forces or Saudi-backed militia that are elements from the Southern Transitional Council,&rdquo\; a Yemeni separatist group.

&ldquo\;The number of British forces&hellip\; is between 20 and 30 instructors, 10 of which are permanent,&rdquo\; Zaabnoot relayed, claiming they are flown into the airport on board Saudi military aircraft and bypass normal visa checks.

&ldquo\;Saudi forces carry out strict security measures against civilian or military personnel inside the airport,&rdquo\; he explained, adding that mobile phones are banned, making it hard for anyone to photograph the British troops.

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