Egypt prolongs role in Saudi-led Yemen coalition for six months

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Egypt prolongs role in Saudi-led Yemen coalition for six months
Smoke rises from a house of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh after a Saudi-led airstrike in Sanaa in May.

Cairo - A statement from the Egyptian presidency said the purpose of the mission was to defend Egyptian and Arab national security.

By AFP


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Published: Sat 1 Aug 2015, 8:40 PM

Last updated: Sat 1 Aug 2015, 10:46 PM

Egypt extended on Saturday its participation in the Saudi-led Arab coalition carrying out air strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen for another six months, the presidency said.
"The National Defence Council agreed to prolong the participation of (Egyptian) troops engaged in a combat mission" in the Gulf, the Red Sea and the Bab Al Mandab Strait, a statement said.
At the beginning of May, the authorities renewed the mandate by three months, and Saturday's statement said the current one will "last for six months, or until the end of the combat mission" if that happens first.
It said the purpose of the mission was to "defend Egyptian and Arab national security".
President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has previously said that Cairo's objective is to secure navigation in the Red Sea and through the strategic strait, which gives access to the Suez Canal, a key source of revenue.
Egyptian air forces have been involved in the coalition since the first strikes were launched on March 26 against the Houthi rebels who have seized much of Yemen's territory.
 


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