Al Anad Air Base is a

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i military

air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

located in Tuban district of the

Lahij Governorate Lahij ( ) is a governorate of Yemen. Geography Adjacent governorates * Taiz Governorate (northwest) * Dhale Governorate (north) * Abyan Governorate (east) * Aden Governorate (south) Districts Lahij Governorate is divided into the following 15 ...

. It is the biggest air base in Yemen.

History

The base was built by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. The base witnessed fierce battles during the 1994 Yemeni Civil War as it was one of the key entry points to

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

. The base served as a headquarters for

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

intelligence-gathering This is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines. HUMINT Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following: * Advisors or foreign internal defense (FID) personnel w ...

and

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

operations in southern Yemen until the aftermath of the Houthi takeover in Yemen when the Houthis launched a military offensive against the remnants of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-backed administration in Aden. In March 2015, the U.S. withdrew its remaining special forces from the base when

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...

(AQAP) briefly took over the governornate. Days later, on 25 March, the installation was taken over by Houthi fighters and the 201st Armoured Brigade of the Yemen Army. The following day, forces loyal to President

Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi (born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former military officer who served as the second president of Yemen from 2012 until his resignation in 2022. He previously served as the second vice president of Yemen fro ...

shelled the base, causing at least some Houthis to flee. Loyalist fighters backed by Saudi and UAE ground forces retook the installation on 3 August 2015, with its rebel defenders fleeing to the nearby hills. The recapture came two weeks after the government's victory in the Battle of Aden. On 31 January 2016 it was reported that a Tochka tactical ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels struck the base killing dozens of Sudanese fighters and Yemeni recruits. A Houthi drone penetrated the air base on January 10, 2019, and exploded above a podium where senior army officials were sitting. The head of the Yemen Intelligence Agency and six soldiers were killed and some senior officials were injured. A major attack occurred on 29 August 2021, when Houthi militants attacked the base with drones and ballistic missiles, killing 30 soldiers and wounding 60 more. Later the death toll increased to more than 40 killed.

References

{{reflist Military installations of Yemen Military history of Yemen Lahij Governorate United States–Yemen relations Military installations of the Soviet Union in other countries Cold War sites Soviet Union–Yemen relations