The coast guard battalion of the Yemen army’s 1st Marine Brigade on Socotra Island defected from the internationally recognized government on Monday and declared its allegiance to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).

A coast guard official in Socotra told Almasdar Online that officers from the coast guard battalion received promises of higher salaries similar to those the UAE-backed Security Belt Forces were receiving up until recently. 

The official added that the battalion raised the STC flag and declared its allegiance to the UAE-backed Council.

The defection follows an incident in December in which the 1st Marine Brigade stood by while the UAE released several travelers detained by Yemeni security forces at Socotra’s airport and flew them off the island in a private Emirati plane.