Somaliland down plays an alleged attack in the region by Houthi insurgent

Self declared breakaway region of Somaliland has released an official statement regarding the alleged impending attack on the region by the Houthi rebels in Yemen downlaying any immediate threat to them from Yemeni side.

Somaliland foreign minister Sa’ad Ali Shire who spoke following an alleged video clip recorded by Houthi rebel which circulated in the social media warning of impending attacks on Hargeisa and other towns in the region with missiles.

“There is no official written document that reached us from the Houthis regarding this matter. When we earlier entered [an agreement with Emirates], we knew many things can occur. We signed it for an interest which still exists” said Minister Shire.

In early February Somaliland Parliament voted in favour of the agreement which allows the UAE to use the base located in the Berbera port and airport for 25 years.

The Shiite rebel is located across the Gulf of Aden waters in Yemen that separates the two regions.

The Houthi insurgency in Yemen, also known as the Houthi rebellion is a sectarian military rebellion pitting against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war

Early December they succeeded killing former Yemen president Ali Abdalla Salah in Sana’a, the capital city.

The rise of the Houthis, believed to be backed by regional rival Iran, agigated Saudi Arabia which formed a coalition of Sunni Arab states and started launched an intervention in 2015 in the form of a massive air campaign aimed at reinstalling Hadi’s government.

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