NYN | News
Tensions are escalating within the UAE-backed Western Coast forces after the exposure of an attempted arms smuggling operation to the Horn of Africa, allegedly involving field actors linked to those forces, amid accusations of external coordination aimed at supporting Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to Crater Sky, the dispute erupted within the joint security campaign in recent hours after Nation Shield Forces (Dir’ Al-Watan) rejected such actions, describing them as a direct threat to regional security and inconsistent with the objectives of the campaign, which is indirectly supervised by Abu Dhabi.
Sources clarified that the tension did not arise suddenly but rather represents an extension of a series of accumulated disagreements between Dir’ Al-Watan and commander Hamdi Al-Shukri, who, according to field reports, has been accused of trying to monopolize the campaign’s achievements and attribute them to his own forces, despite Dir’ Al-Watanbearing the full costs of logistics and field supplies, including provisions for the Giants Brigades.
According to the site, Dir’ Al-Watan’s leadership had previously attempted to contain the differences in order to maintain unity, but the alleged attempt to smuggle weapons was the breaking point that brought the dispute into the open.
Reports added that Hamdi Al-Shukri deployed one of the Hays Brigades to positions under Dir’ Al-Watan’s control along the Bab al-Mandab coast — a move seen as an attempt to impose a new field reality in an area under Emirati influence and considered one of the most sensitive points along international shipping lanes.
These developments come within a broader context of recurring accusations directed at the United Arab Emirates of playing a destabilizing role in several regional conflicts — including in Yemen, Libya, and Sudan — with international reports indicating Abu Dhabi’s involvement in supporting armed groups that serve its agendas and in fueling conflicts by financing and arming rival factions. This has raised growing concern about the impact of such policies on regional security and stability.
The UAE is also facing increasing international criticism over its military and political interventions in countries suffering from internal crises, amid calls for it to halt its support for militias and to engage in peace efforts instead of fueling conflicts.
