DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its military freed a British hostage who was kidnapped 18 months ago by al-Qaida's branch in Yemen, which has expanded its reach amid fighting between Shiite rebels and their opponents.
A statement carried by the UAE's official WAM news agency identified the British hostage as Robert Douglas Semple, after initially referring to him as Douglas Robert Semple. It said Semple, 64, had been working as a petroleum engineer in the Yemeni province of Hadramawt when he was kidnapped in February 2014. The statement did not say where Semple had been held in Yemen or provide any details on the rescue.
Yemeni security officials contacted by The Associated Press said they were not aware of any Yemeni forces assisting in the operation and did not have details about how Semple was released, suggesting that his handover may have been negotiated among local tribesmen before the involvement of Emirati forces.
Troops from the UAE were also reported to be helping coalition forces fighting Houthi rebels in oil-rich Marib province.
Marib resident Mohammed al-Sharif said he saw the arrival of "huge forces," which the Saudi-owned Asharq Alawsat newspaper said included Emirati soldiers.
Armored vehicles, tanks and other heavy equipment arrived in the area Saturday and will play an important role in defeating the Houthis and their allies, said Saleh al-Anjaf, chief of the Marib Tribes Alliance, which is fighting the rebels and their allies.
The fighting pits Shiite rebels known as Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against a mix of local militias, Sunni tribesmen and other backers of the current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile in Saudi Arabia. The Houthis and their allies control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
The UAE has military forces in Aden and is part of a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab countries that has been bombing the Houthis and their allies since late March. The conflict has killed more than 1,950 civilians, wounded more than 23,000 people and pushed the already impoverished nation to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
The UAE said Semple was freed during a military intelligence operation and taken to Aden before being flown by UAE military aircraft to Abu Dhabi. He was greeted at the airport by the British ambassador and taken for medical checks at a hospital, the statement said.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the release of a British hostage by UAE forces in a military intelligence operation.
"The British national is safe and well, and is receiving support from British government officials," he said in a statement, adding that the government is "very grateful for the assistance of the UAE."
The WAM statement said Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday evening to inform him of the operation.
The UAE's involvement comes as the Saudi-led coalition steps up its ground offensive after almost five months of airstrikes against the Houthis, who seized Sanaa in September and forced Hadi's internationally recognized government to flee to neighboring Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
The UAE government declined to comment on its operations in Yemen, though its officials have accused Iran of seeking to expand its regional influence by backing the Houthis.
Emirati troops are on the ground in Yemen, and the UAE has provided support and equipment to coalition forces fighting the Houthis, said a person with knowledge of the troop deployment, who asked not to be identified because the person is not authorized to speak on the issue.
The UAE's troops have had some success in persuading tribes and supporters of Saleh to join the anti-Houthi coalition, said the person, who has been briefed on the matter. Those tribes needed to be reassured of a sustained security presence on the ground, the person said.
While the focus is on Houthi rebels, the UAE will also act against al-Qaida selectively if it obtains relevant intelligence, the person said. The group's militants have taken advantage of the chaos to make strategic gains.
Al-Qaida in Yemen
Al-Qaida's Yemen branch, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, has been consolidating its control in Hadramawt, the country's largest province, where Semple was kidnapped. The group captured a large weapons depot, an airport, an oil terminal and the area's main military base in April, and it controls the provincial capital, Mukalla, which is Yemen's fifth-largest city. At the same time, the militants have faced no opposition from the Saudi-led coalition as warplanes have carried out thousands of airstrikes against the Houthis and their allies.
Washington considers al-Qaida's Yemen branch to be the most dangerous offshoot of the global terror network and has repeatedly targeted it with drone strikes. In June, the White House said, a drone strike killed the head of al-Qaida's Yemeni branch, Nasir al-Wahishi, who was considered the second-most-senior leader in the global network.
Yemen's al-Qaida branch has attempted several direct attacks on the United States, including a botched 2009 plot to bomb an American passenger jet. The group has a history of kidnapping foreigners in exchange for multimillion-dollar ransoms.
In December, American Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie were killed in a failed U.S. rescue attempt. Somers had been kidnapped by al-Qaida in Sanaa in September 2013 and Korkie in the city of Taiz in May 2013.
But Al-Qaida, a Sunni extremist group, has allied with some of the forces battling the Houthi rebels.
Officials in Hadi's government have been reluctant to admit that small numbers of al-Qaida militants have been fighting as part of the anti-Houthi coalition.
On Saturday, Yemeni security officials told The Associated Press that al-Qaida militants seized control of areas in and around Aden, the port city where the rebels had recently been driven out by an array of fighters backed by Saudi-led airstrikes.
By Sunday afternoon, there were no signs of al-Qaida militants in Tawahi, the neighborhood surrounding the presidential palace. But their appearance, however fleeting, was a setback for Hadi's government, which had described its success in securing Aden as a major victory in its war with the Houthi rebels.
On Saturday, local officials denied that al-Qaida was present in Tawahi, even as local news accounts said the militants had raised their black flag at a navy port in the area and were telling residents that they controlled the neighborhood. On Sunday, a senior military official aligned with the anti-Houthi forces acknowledged the entrance of about 100 al-Qaida fighters into Tawahi and said they had been the subject of a local security committee meeting. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
It was unclear whether the al-Qaida fighters left because of an agreement with local commanders, or because they were trying to avoid an armed confrontation. On Sunday, southern separatists took total control of Tawahi, said Abdul Wahab al-Boujah, a fighter who was guarding a checkpoint there.
Coalition strikes
Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition bombed insurgent positions near the Bab el-Mandeb strait Sunday to weaken them in preparation for a ground offensive there, Yemeni security officials close to pro-government forces said.
The airstrikes were confirmed by security officials close to the Houthis, who said 13 of their fighters were killed in the airstrikes. The airstrikes took place in areas Houthis control around the strategic Red Sea strait, including the port town of Mocha, which is connected by road to Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city.
A similar tactic of airstrikes preceding a ground offensive was used in other areas taken over by pro-government forces, including in Aden.
Meanwhile, the Saudi military said a high-ranking general was killed along the border with Yemen in the kingdom's southern region of Jizan. The Saudi Press Agency carried the statement saying Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman al-Shahrani, commander of the 18th brigade, died Sunday after coming under hostile fire. He is the highest-ranking Saudi officer to die since Saudi Arabia began its air offensive in Yemen in late March.
Several dozen Saudi soldiers have been killed in border attacks since the airstrikes began, mostly by missiles launched by the rebels and their allies. Two Saudi pilots were killed Friday when their helicopter was shot down in Jizan.
Also Sunday, Yemeni officials said pro-government forces took over the eastern part of the town of Mukayris in Bayda province in an operation supported by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they weren't authorized to brief journalists.
Information for this article was contributed by Aya Batrawy, Ahmed al-Haj and Abdullah al-Shihri of The Associated Press; by Nafeesa Syeed and Mohammed Hatem of Bloomberg News; and by Saeed al-Batati and Kareem Fahim of The New York Times.
A Section on 08/24/2015