US trained UAE troops for air combat in Yemen: Report

<p>By Umar Farooq</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – The U.S. Air Force has been training Saudi-led coalition personnel from the United Arab Emirates for aerial combat in Yemen, Yahoo News reported late Wednesday, citing newly obtained official documents.</p> <p>A spokesman and an official from U.S. Central Command told Yahoo News the military did not &quot;conduct exercises with members of the [coalition] to prepare for combat operations in Yemen&quot;.</p> <p>Similar remarks were made last month by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressing that the U.S. is &quot;not a participant in the civil war in Yemen, nor are we supporting one side or the other&quot;.</p> <p> But the documents, which were obtained by Yahoo News through the Freedom of Information Act, tell another story.</p> <p> According to one of the documents from U.S. Air Forces Central Command from December 2017, the U.S. “escorted 6 UAE F-16s to RED FLAG; assisted 150 airmen in challenging exercise to prepare for combat ops in Yemen&quot;.</p> <p>Support from the U.S. Air Force’s Air Warfare Center at al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi also helped advance the Gulf state's F-16 fighter jet program. </p> <p>&quot;Unit fighter personnel advanced the UAE’s F-16 fighter pilot training program; 3 pilots flew 243 instructor sorties/323 hrs that created 4 new instructors &amp; 29 combat wingmen who immediately deployed for combat operations in Yemen,&quot; the document said.</p> <p>In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, including the UAE, launched a campaign into Yemen after Houthi rebels overran much of the country and took over the capital, Sanaa. With U.S. support, the coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.</p> <p>The violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including its health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times.</p> The Senate passed a resolution last month to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen in a rebuke to Saudi Arabia, a long-time American ally. However, the bill was unable to pass in the House of Representatives due to a provision submitted a day earlier.

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