Al-Thawra Net
The UAE is attracting children and teenagers under the age of 18 for suspicious purposes, local sources in Yemen reported on Monday.
The sources confirmed that the Socotra Training Center, which is funded by the Khalifa Foundation from the UAE, has published advertising posters inviting people under the age of 18 to join free training programs supervised by trainers from Ukraine, Italy and Sudan.
The calls were met with concern and fear from parents, amid warnings about the UAE’s intentions to recruit children with the aim of establishing armed militias loyal to them on the island.
This comes after the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council militias took control of Hadeboh, the capital of Socotra island, and expelled militants loyal to the Hadi administration in mid-June.
This week, the UAE transferred dozens of mercenaries from Dhalea and Yafaa to the port of Al-Shihar in Hadhramaut province.
The UAE has transformed Socotra Island into naval military base, which, on the eve of the declaration of relations between the UAE and Israel, has reportedly even begun installing a military communications network for the Israeli navy on the island.
On Thursday, informed sources reported that the UAE secretly transported Israeli experts and advanced military equipment through warships to the isolated port it recently established on Socotra island.
The sources indicated that the UAE transported the Israeli military equipment via ships belonging to the Khalifa Foundation, in order to complete the process of establishing a military base on the island.
The equipment wad brought by the UAE from the Israeli Mamtam base, which is designated for the telecommunications network of the Israeli navy, to the port of Abu Dhabi, before they were transferred to the port in Socotra, according to sources.
The sources indicated that the cargo of the suspicious Emirati ships coming to Socotra is not subject to inspection, including the ship Astra, which has unloaded military equipment at the port of Dilisha, located just three kilometres east of Socotra port.
