 A "The Washington Post" op-ed by Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US, indicated that more than 2,000 militants have been removed from Yemen, with their controlled areas now having improved security and a better delivered humanitarian and development assistance such as to the port city of Mukalla and other liberated areas.US defense secretary James Mattis called US-UAE joint counter-terrorism operations against Al Qaeda in Yemen a model for American troops, citing how the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces liberated the port of Mukalla in April 2016 from AQAP forces in 36 hours after being held by AQAP for more than a year.In 2018, a report by the Associated Press suggested that the United Arab Emirates, as part of Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, may have brokered deals with Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen, and have recruited them to fight against the Houthis.