Date: Sunday, 29 April 2018
Rome (askanews) - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have recruited African mercenaries to fight against the Houthi Shiite militiamen in Yemen. This is what the French broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI) reports today, stating that it has learned that Chad and Uganda have been sending their men for months and would be willing to send others. If Kampala denied the news, N'Djamena preferred not to comment.
In recent days it was the pan-Arab newspaper, owned by Qatari, al-Quds al-Arabi, to report on the recruitment of thousands of African mercenaries by Riad and Dubai, citing Saudi sources.
Officially only Sudan has agreed to send its own military to fight with the international coalition led by Riad, engaged since March 2015 in Yemen. But "in the face of the lack of men, the Saudi kingdom and the United Arab Emirates have been asking for aid for months to other countries," wrote RFI today, recalling that months ago, Saudi opponents, emirates and especially Yemenis denounced the use of mercenaries. The Yemenis have indicated an advisor to the Ugandan president, Najwa Kdah, as the signer of an agreement with the Emirates to send 8,000 men.
Houthi-shot movies also show black soldiers dead in combat, and an official Houthi has confirmed to RFI that African mercenaries have been killed or taken prisoner in Yemen. "According to several sources - we read again on RFI - Ugandans will be in force in the areas of the west coast of Yemen and will be in the ranks of the forces of the son of former Yemeni president Ali Abdallah Saleh".
