Mauritania to send ground boots to Yemen, military source

Some 500 Mauritanian military forces are gearing up to join Saudi Arabia–led military coalition in Yemen to combat Houthi rebels, military sources said.

“Soldiers of the armed forces who are ready to be sent to Saudi Arabia, completed over the past weeks their military training at Atar military school located in the centre of the country,” the sources said.

The information emerged as Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Muhammad Ben Abdallah Al-Ayesh visited the Mauritanian capital this week. He was received on Tuesday by the Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

The Saudi official also met the Mauritanian Minister of Defence and the Chief of the army Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed to discuss modalities related to the operation.

Saudi Arabia is leading an international campaign against Yemen Houthi rebels. The international military coalition shelled the rebels’ positions for several weeks and recorded significant gains on the ground.

The rebels were pushed out of major parts of the territory but fights still rage on.