Al Anad Air Base is a

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

in the Lahij Governorate,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

. It is the biggest air base in Yemen.

History

The base was built by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. The base witnessed heavy clashes during the Yemeni Civil War in 1994 as it was one of the key entry points to

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 peopl ...

. The base served as a headquarters for

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

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 wor ...

and

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

operations in southern Yemen until the

aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an America ...

of the

2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état The Houthi takeover in Yemen, also known as the September 21 Revolution (by supporters), or 2014–15 coup d'état (by opponents), was a popular revolution against Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led by the Houthis and their supporters t ...

, in which the Houthis took control of the Yemeni government and launched a

military offensive An offensive is a military operation that seeks through an aggressive projection of armed forces to occupy territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational, or tactical goal. Another term for an offensive often used b ...

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 ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في جزيرة العرب, Tanẓīm al-Qā‘idah fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, lit=Organization of the Base in the Arabian Peninsula or , ''Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jaz� ...

(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 Mansur Hadi ( ar, عبدربه منصور هادي, translit=ʿAbd Rabbih Manṣūr Hādī Yemeni pronunciation: ; born 1 September 1945) is a Yemeni politician and former field marshal of the Yemeni Armed Forces who served as the pres ...

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 Yemen Intelligence Agency and six soldiers were killed and some senior officials were injured. A major attack occurred on August 29, 2021, when Houthis 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

{{Coord, 13.1752108, 44.7700302, display=title 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