Keyboard Worrier

The above is a video on the attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on the Saudi Arabian frigate “Al Madinah” last month, taken from the YouTube channel belonging to Defence Updates.

For those who are not familiar with the Yemeni conflict, it is about forces loyal to the former President Ali Abdullah Salleh who was deposed during the 2011 Arab Spring now fight those who are loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who won the 2012 elections unopposed.

Ali Abdullah Salleh is backed also by the Houthis who are Zaid Shia that are thought to be backed by Iran, a claim that has been denied by Iran.

The Houthis took control of the government through a series of actions and Yemen’s northern neighbour, Saudi Arabia, has announced this as an unconstitutional coup d’etat.

The Arab League, meeting in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt met in March 2015 and several countries of the League pledged military support for Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The following are countries that are now involved directly and indirectly in the Yemeni conflict through what is now known as ‘Operation Decisive Storm’ otherwise known as ‘Operation Storm of Resolve.’

As you can see, Malaysia is not involved in the conflict and has not committed any troops or assets to assist the coalition against the Houthis.

However, there will be those momes who insist that Malaysia is involved in Yemen.  The person below included:

In his delusion, the Royal Malaysian Air Force is involved in the bombing of Yemen, possibly getting the RM2.6 billion donation as well as the billions of Ringgits worth of investments announced recently during the visit of King Salman, for helping Saudi coalition forces bomb Yemen.

I checked the RMAF’s order of battle to see which bomber assets are involved in Yemen and found this:

That is how absurd the claim by Opposition supporters such as the above that they would dish out lies no matter how stupid it would make them look.

I would rather the police take action against the above rumour-monger.

So how is the RMAF involved in Saudi Arabia?

Malaysia works closely with Saudi Arabia on the issue of the Da’esh. The fortnightly consultations between the two governments do include, at times, issues on Da’esh and other terror groups.  Malaysia is a member of the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) although it does not provide men and assets tot he coalition, and has involved itself in ‘Exercise North Thunder’  with 20 other countries in the northern region of Saudi Arabia.

What about the reports saying there are RMAF C-130H transport aircraft with ground support crew stationed in Saudi Arabia?

The RMAF has flown out Malaysian workers and students out from Middle Eastern countries that are in a conflict.  During ‘Operation Pyramid’ the RMAF had had to evacuate workers and students out from Egypt TWICE.  The situation in Egypt is still as delicate as during the Arab Spring.

In April 2015, the RMAF flew 67 students whom had fled Yemen out of Djibouti to Jeddah.  However, 131 Malaysian students have refused to leave Yemen.

Therefore, the Malaysian government through Wisma Putra and the Ministry of Defence is monitoring the developments in the Middle East closely and prudently stationed RMAF transport assets in Saudi Arabia in case there is a need for an immediate evacuation of Malaysian citizens.

Those who think that this option is a waste of taxpayers’ money can blame those who have refused to leave the nations in conflict, but for a government that many claim to not care about its citizens, this is how it shows it cares the least.

The first revelation by Allah to Muslims was IQRA’ or READ.

Not many Muslims in Malaysia do even that.