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: “They are a fully-fledged force. We can’t say they are minor.” 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: “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,” a Yemeni separatist group.
“The number of British forces… is between 20 and 30 instructors, 10 of which are permanent,” Zaabnoot relayed, claiming they are flown into the airport on board Saudi military aircraft and bypass normal visa checks.
“Saudi forces carry out strict security measures against civilian or military personnel inside the airport,” he explained, adding that mobile phones are banned, making it hard for anyone to photograph the British troops.
tags: