US forces imposed a military commander loyal to them as military governor of Al-Mahrah province, in eastern Yemen.
Khaled al-Qamali, commander of the Marine Corps, officially received the security and military file.
Al-Qamali previously chaired a meeting of the security committee in Al-Mahrah, followed by an inspection to the military forces’ sites, specifically those deployed on the coast of Al-Mahrah.
Al-Qamali said in a press statement that he had received US promises of support.
Al-Qumali had arrived earlier with the commander of the US Fifth Fleet, who handles deployment duties in the Gulf, Brad Cooper, and the US ambassador to Yemen, Stephen Fagin, participated in the meetings with the governor of Al-Mahrah and the commander of the Saudi forces in the province located at the intersection of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Al-Qummali is one of the military leaders known for his subservience to the US Navy, which trained his platoon more than once. Al-Qamali’s appointment as military governor of Al-Mahrah coincided with the announcement of the Fifth Fleet to include the Yemeni Navy faction in its headquarters, an indication to the subjugation of the province to the same fleet.
Saudi Arabia had pre-empted the step of subjugating Al-Mahrah with measures, most notably separating Al-Mahrah military sector from the first military zone in Hadhramaut and declaring Shehen border sector with the Sultanate of Oman independent.
The Saudi-American moves are part of efforts to separate Al-Mahrah from its Yemeni surroundings, as a prelude to subjecting it to Saudi tutelage, which is eager to keep this border province as a sea supply line to transport its oil to the global market through a channel that it seeks to open under the name “King Salman Canal”, as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz.
