The US forces have been deployed in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden during the past few days, local sources told Yemen Press Agency on Wednesday.
According to the sources, units of US forces deployed in the districts of Crater, Al-Buraiqeh and others in Aden, to secure the US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking who had arrived in the city earlier on Wednesday by a helicopter to al-Ma’ashiq Palace.
The sources indicated that the US envoy’s visits to Aden was aimed at uniting the ranks of the Riyadh-formed Presidential Council, which suffers from military rifts that may lead its parties to internal confrontation.
This is because of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC)’s refusal of integration within the framework of the Presidential Council, while other sources said that the visit of Lenderking came to discuss the extension of the UN-brokered truce announced last April.
The STC recently deployed its militants along the coastal strip of the Aden and Lahj provinces, and the UAE has called on its factions to deploy on the coastal strip adjacent to Bab al-Mandab, by directing Tariq Afash’s forces to move to the areas of Lahj.
The US forces and the Israel, along with several European countries, as well as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and some countries in the Horn of Africa carried out air maneuvers in the Red Sea in recent days, intending to improve their capabilities to “ensure safety in the Red Sea.”
Many in Yemen believe these are mere propagandistic claims that Washington is using to justify its efforts to impose its military presence in Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea.
Earlier in April, US military forces entered Aden under the pretext of securing and protecting the residence of the President of the Riyadh-formed Presidential Council.
The US forces are present at al-Anad base and in a number of Yemeni islands, as well as in airports in Mayun, Socotra, al-Rayyan in Mukalla and Al-Ghaydah in Mahrah province, eastern Yemen.
