A senior Yemeni defence official confirmed that Yemen has the ability to develop national professional troops who are capable of defending their country.

''True, we are living through a time of war waged by the Houthi-Saleh forces on our country, but we are capable of building national military units who are loyal to Allah and then to the homeland,'' said Major General Saleh Ali Hassan, Deputy Yemeni Defence Minister, who spoke during the graduation ceremony for the first professional battalion on Wednesday.

The UAE Armed Forces supported and supervised the training of this battalion, he noted.

''These elite security forces received professional training at the hands of Sudanese and Yemeni military experts with generous support from the UAE Armed Forces," he stated.

He thanked the Arab Coalition, including the UAE, for their tremendous support in qualifying and training the Yemeni armed forces.

The event was attended by military commanders from the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen.