CAIRO: The Egyptian military forces will remain at Yemen’s Bab el-Mandeb’s strait for six months or until their mission is accomplished, according to a Saturday decision by the National Defense Council.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met with the council members, including military chiefs and the ministers of interior and finance, to discuss efforts to counter North Sinai’s militants and means to secure the inauguration of the New Suez Canal.
Egypt has been part of Saudi Arabia’s Decisive Storm operation against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but sufficed with naval and air forces. Egypt considers Bab el-Mandeb strait as an integral part of its national security; the Yemeni water way is an important passage to Suez Canal, a substantial source of income for Egypt.