ABU DHABI, UAE – A former French special forces officer wants to create a highly-trained mercenary force for the United Arab Emirates, comprising at least 3,000 foreigners.
The mercenary forces that will be created for the UAE will be in charge of the mission abroad, and the places that will be deployed include Somalia and Yemen, according to the Intelligence Online website.
The government of the UAE has decided to establish a mercenary force, which will carry out operations abroad, and the process of recruiting soldiers will begin in July this year, and it will end in the middle of next year 2025.
The recruits were promised a higher salary, and promotions every 3 years, with the training contract awarded to a French security agency led by a former commando officer.
The mercenary forces will be sent to the countries where the UAE has interests and those who are fighting in the region, such as Yemen, where since 2015 the Khilaj Coalition has been conducting an operation against the Houthis.
Last month, four UAE soldiers, including the head of training, were killed in a shooting attack at the General Gordon base in Mogadishu. The attack was claimed by the Al-Shabaab group.
In recent years, the United Arab Emirates has been heavily investing in ports in East Africa, including those in Somalia, such as Bosaso and Berbera, and it has an impact on the country’s political and military affairs.
Somalia’s security issues are of concern to the UAE as they are connected to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. Somali pirates have recently returned after several years of attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on ships passing through the Red Sea.
