The Race for Mukalla: Arabian Elite Forces and the War Against Al-Qaeda

(Hardback, Main)

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The sequel to Michael Knights' successful 25 Days to Aden, The Race for Mukalla is the story of elite UAE forces taking the counter-terrorism fight to Al -Qaeda in the southern Yemen port of Mukalla.

In many senses this was the UAE's most challenging moment. The first part of the book tells the story of the devastating missile strike at Safer, leading to the deaths of fifty Emiratis - a national tragedy for the Gulf nation. But the Emiratis are quick to regroup and their elite forces go on to save the key city of Marib city and liberate the iconic Zayed Dam.

Both UAE forces and Al-Qaeda race to be the first to control the southern port of Mukalla. Initially Al-Qaeda take the port city, but by enlisting the help of local tribes - the Hadrami Elites - UAE forces fight their way in, running through precipitous mountain passes to the north and launching a naval blockade and amphibious assault to the south.

Meticulously researched with those involved in the campaign and narrated at the same lively pace as 25 Days to Aden, The Race for Mukalla is both an adventure story and a unique historical account of the mission. It outlines the creation of a new formula for hunting Al-Qaeda: bringing together local Yemeni support, UAE special forces on the ground, and remote US intelligence and drones for the first time.

Reviews

'Knights is a brilliant analyst who has long helped those inside and outside of government to understand Yemen. For too long, the West discounted Arab efforts to confront Al-Qaeda. Knights sets the record straight by telling for the first time the story of the UAE and its battle against Al-Qaeda in Yemen.' - R. David Harden, Former assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development's Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance

'Based on extraordinary access to the key participants, this richly-detailed and gripping account will fascinate both the general reader and the most seasoned analyst. A page-turning, passionate work of military history. Authoritative and spellbinding.' - Paul Cruickshank, editor-in-chief, Sentinel, the flagship publication of the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point

'As the US CENTCOM Commander I was fortunate to have a front-row seat to the events of The Race for Mukalla. It was an extraordinarily courageous and successful campaign, fought by a motivated, capable and well-led UAE force. This excellent book rightfully puts the credit where is it deserved - with the officers and men of the UAE Armed Forces.' - General Joseph L. Votel, US Army (Ret.), US CENTCOM Commanding General, 2016-19

'A very unique research project that will long be of interest to scholars of the Yemen war and those studying Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.' - Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Arabist and Yemen scholar, head of Girton College, University of Cambridge and editor and contributing author of Twenty-First Century Jihad: Law, Society and Military Action

'An illuminating behind-the-scenes chronicle of the Emirati-led campaign in Yemen against Al-Qaeda. This riveting account follows Emirati Special Forces working skilfully with local Yemeni tribes, fighting their way from the mountains to the coast, to liberate the port of Mukalla. An exceptional read!' - General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Director of the CIA, US CENTCOM Commanding General, 2008-10, Commander of the Surge in Iraq and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan

Author Bio

Dr Michael Knights is the Jill and Jay Bernstein Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, specialising in the military and security affairs of the Arabian Gulf, Iran and Iraq. He regularly briefs US and European government policymakers, military commanders and intelligence officials on the evolving realities of regional battlefields.

A military historian by training, Michael received undergraduate and PhD degrees from the Department of War Studies, King's College London. He spent extensive time in Yemen in the mid-2000s, spanning some of the six wars fought between the Yemeni government and the Houthis. Working Yemeni security forces, he visited all the key battlefields of the current (post-2015) war in Yemen, and embedded with Yemeni, UAE, Saudi and Sudanese forces. He regularly writes on Yemen for academic journals such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Journal of Strategic Studies and Sentinel, the journal of the West Point Combating Terrorism Center, as well as for policy outlets such War on the Rocks, the Royal United Services Institute's This Means War, Lawfare and The Hill.