A Western journalist in a report examines a set of economic and strategic ambitions of Saudi Arabia in Al-Mohra the second largest province of Yemen.
According to the international group of Pak Sahafat news agency, quoted by Saudi Leaks, the investigation of a Western journalist examined a set of Saudi Arabia‘s economic and strategic ambitions in the Yemeni province of Al-Mohra, which has become a place for the continuation of the occupation of Riyadh.
Persian Gulf affairs journalist Kenneth Müller said in a report that the two regions of Al-Mohra and the archipelago of Socotra belonged to Yemen from the 16th century to 1967, and since 2015 have witnessed various developments and aggressions by the Saudi-led Arab aggression coalition.
Since 2017, Saudi Arabia has deployed a large arsenal in al-Mohra under the pretext of fighting arms smuggling across the Oman border. Al-Mohra is the second largest province in Yemen after Hadramaut in terms of area, which is of great geographical and economic importance. Al-Mohra also has the longest coastline and two border crossings, Sarfit and Shahan, which has made the province a strategic target for the Saudis.
At the end of 2017, Saudi Arabia captured the port of Nastoun, the border crossing of Shahan and Safit, and the airport of Al-Ghaida. Ryan Poehl, a Middle East analyst at the Stratfor think tank, said Saudi Arabia’s strategy is to take control of key transport hubs to prevent Ansar al-Islam and potential pro-Oman forces from infiltrating the region. Al-Ghaida Airport, one of the last airports to carry out civilian flights, was taken over by the Saudi military and became one of the military bases in Al-Mahra.
Al-Mehra governor Mohammed Abdullah Kodeh, who holds an Omani passport, was ousted in 2017 and replaced by “Raeed Saeed Bakrit” elected by Saudi Arabia.
Elizabeth Kindal, a researcher in Arabic and Islamic studies at Pembroke College at Oxford University, said that Riyadh’s game and ambition in Al-Mohra province are undesirable, and the Saudi intervention in this province creates a severe hostility and crisis.
Abdullah bin Isa Al-Afrar, one of the sheikhs of the Afrar tribe in Al-Muhra province, was fired in 2017 after being severely criticized for Saudi military maneuvers in the province. Oman, which has made al-Muhra a necessary space for the security of its territories since the Dhofar War (1964-1976) and has good relations with the tribes, is not satisfied with the expansion of Saudi Arabia within its borders.