UK launches coalition to train Yemen's coastguard

Yemeni forces intercept drugs and weapons headed for Houthi-controlled territory

Oil tanker Marlin Luanda burning 60 nautical miles south-east of Aden in Yemen after a missile attack by Houthi fighters in 2024. Indian Navy photo handout

The UK has launched a Yemeni coastguard coalition in partnership with the EU, Saudi Arabia, US and Japan.

British ambassador to Yemen Abda Sharif chaired the first meeting of the group, which aims to support the Yemeni Coast Guard in securing international waters, combating weapons and drugs smuggling, and reducing “unsafe” immigration.

The coalition will be the steering committee for the Yemen Maritime Security Partnership, a Saudi and British initiative founded in September to train the coastguard.

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The committee also “reaffirmed the importance” of strengthening human rights-based approaches to security and “increasing women’s meaningful participation”, in a joint statement on Monday.

The US Coast Guard seized advanced weapons and lethal aid from Iran, destined for Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in the Red Sea. Centcom

Yemen’s Red Sea coast is an important section of global shipping routes – but also a haven for smuggling and piracy.

Shipping was disrupted for two years after the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, which controls the north of Yemen, began attacking tankers crossing through the Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

A US-brokered offensive against the Houthis earlier this year followed by a ceasefire all but ended the attacks. A US-led coalition, Operation Prosperity Guardian, and the EU military operation Aspides deployed in October 2023 to secure the Red Sea are still patrolling the area.

British Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer reaffirmed the UK's backing for the official government’s efforts to counter extremist attacks on shipping. Mr Falconer said it was “critical to strengthen maritime security”, during his one-day visit to Aden last month.

Yet repeated seizures of weapons and drugs by the Yemeni Coast Guard indicate that the Houthis are actively trying to recover their losses.

In October, Yemeni forces intercepted one ton of drugs near the Bab Al Mandeb strait, and a shipment of military gear and drone components in a separate operation off the Lahj coast, west of Aden.

Two vessels heading from Djibouti and carrying 250 tonnes of advanced communications equipment were intercepted in November. These smuggling networks have been linked to Al Shabab in Somalia and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Anwar Al Tamimi, spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council, a coalition of parties that is part of Yemen's internationally-recognised government in Aden, said there had also been interceptions coming from Sudan, as reports suggest that the Houthis have a presence in some Sudanese ports.

“This is backed by Iran,” he said. “There have been interceptions of maritime shipments coming from Sudan. The Houthi issue is now an international problem, and we are facing it with the support of our allies.”

The Houthis were also exploiting migration flows from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, he said.

“The South is hosting around 40,000 refugees from Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. Some settle here: others try on move on to the Gulf states. The Houthis exploit this, capturing some of the people and using them,” he said.