Mysterious Airstrip Is Being Built On A Remote Island Off Yemen: Report

A mysterious airstrip is reportedly near completion on a remote island off Yemen in a critical commercial shipping lane near the Gulf of Aden.

The Associated Press analyzed satellite photos of the runway on Abd al-Kuri Island in the Indian Ocean, a placement that could provide a key landing zone for military operations in the waterway.

The strategic location sits along a key route for commercial shipping through the Gulf and Red Sea for cargo and energy shipments to Europe that have been cut in half by attacks from Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

The waterway is also heavily used for smuggling weapons from Iran to the Houthis.

The airstrip was likely built by the United Arab Emirates, which has long been suspected of expanding its military presence in the region and supports a Saudi-backed war against the Houthis, the AP said.

The Houthis have linked their military campaign in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, but experts fear a ceasefire in that conflict may not result in the rebels halting a campaign that has brought them global attention, the report said.

There are also increased concerns that the Houthis, which have attacked Israel and U.S. warships in the Red Sea, could endanger the lives of American service members.

"The Houthis feed off war — war is good for them," Wolf-Christian Paes, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who studies Yemen, told the Associated Press.

"Finally they can live up to their slogan, which famously, of course, declares, 'Death to America, death to the Jews.' They see themselves as being in this epic battle against their archenemies and from their view, they're winning," Paes said.

The satellite photos taken on Jan. 7 by Planet Labs PBC show trucks and other heavy equipment on the north-south runway on the sparsely populated island which is about 21 miles long and 3 miles wide.

The airstrip has been paved with designated markings "18" and "36" to the runway's north and south respectively, the wire service reported.

Once finished, the runway's length could accommodate private jets and other aircraft, but not large commercial plans and heavy bombers.

Abd al-Kuri is far enough from Yemen to be out of range of Houthi missiles and drones, meaning "there's no threat of the Houthis getting on a pickup truck or a technical and going to seize it," Yemen expert Mohammed al-Basha of the Basha Report risk advisory firm, told the AP.