Yemen thwarts US-Israeli intelligence unit known as 'Force 400'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Saba news agency
6 May 2024 15:25
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The 'Ammar Affash cell' or 'Force 400,' a spy group led by Ammar Affash, recruited spies to gather intelligence and carry out sabotage operations against Yemen's Armed Forces in service of the US and 'Israel'.

Image shared by the Yemeni media showing five members of 'Force 400' linked to Ammar Affash ahead of releasing the video of their confessions on May 6, 2024. (Saba News Agency)

Members of the "Ammar Affash cell" (sometimes referred to as Ammar Saleh), were arrested by the Yemeni security services, with the support of those concerned from the Ministry of Defense, for spying in service of the West.

The cell, more commonly known as the spy group "Force 400", led by Ammar Affash, a spy who has long been on the Yemeni forces' wanted list, had recruited these members to commit crimes in favor of the US and "Israel", according to Yemen's Saba News Agency.

According to Saba News Agency, a security official explained that the members caught over the past few days were recruited to work on collecting information and monitoring sites belonging to the Yemeni Armed Forces on the western coast of the Republic of Yemen.

Furthermore, the official highlighted that following Yemen's declaration of the launch of its operations in support of the people of Palestine and the start of operations against Israeli targets, including in the Red and Arabian seas amid a joint US-UK aggression on Yemen, security services detected increased intelligence efforts by Yemen's enemies.

What were their missions?

US and Israeli occupation forces, along with local collaborators that Affash recruited, notably through the so-called "Force 400", intensified activities, recruiting individuals to monitor missile and drone launch sites aimed at "Israel". Not only that, the collaborators' mission included gathering information on the locations of Yemeni Armed Forces boats and submitting their coordinates to their operators.

Those apprehended admitted to performing intelligence tasks, including gathering coordinates of military targets, thus enabling attacks by US and UK warplanes. As such, the collaborators, and their operators, are directly responsible for the blood spilled and the material losses caused by the joint aggression conducted in favor of Tel Aviv.

"Among what the spies were entrusted with, according to their confessions, was to carry out criminal and sabotage operations, which included carrying out operations to damage and burn vehicles belonging to the armed, security forces, and then preparing to carry out assassination operations using silencers and explosive materials for the purpose of distracting the armed forces from confronting the American, British, Israeli evil trio, and supporting... the besieged Palestinian people, and striking the homefront... in the service of the American and Israeli enemy through these sabotage and criminal operations," a Yemeni official revealed to Saba News Agency.

The Yemeni security services emphasized the severe consequences awaiting these spies, including capital punishment, for collaborating with enemy intelligence services.

Ammar Affash: What we know

In 2022, a Central Military Court in Yemen convicted Ammar Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Ahmar, a former National Security Agency agent, along with 12 officers from the United States, for their crimes of attempting to destroy Yemen's missile capabilities and air defense batteries.

During a court session in Sanaa, Ammar Saleh was sentenced to death in absentia, while the other officers were given 10-year prison terms.

Saleh, according to some leading Yemeni journalists, is known to also have ties to the United Arab Emirates, especially during the war on Yemen, and to maintain a connection with sleeper cells across Yemen. This is what "Force 400" is made of.

Western intelligence operations in a Yemeni context

This comes after Yemen has successfully implemented a maritime siege against "Israel", despite the multiple attempts by the US, UK, and a joint naval operation to end Yemen's siege.

Yemen launched its operation against the Israeli occupation in defense of the people of Yemen and expanded the width of operations to include the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and most recently the Mediterranean Sea. Yemen also expanded the scope of the operations to target not only ships headed to Israeli occupation ports, and Israeli ships but also US and British ships aimed at hindering Yemen's operation in service of "Israel".

Intelligence operations directed against Yemen through Force 400 became significant after US and UK intelligence failed to discover Yemeni launch sites that were used to target Umm al-Rashrash [Eilat] as well as US and UK warships.