Hagel: US to continue its aid to enhance Yemen's army capacity

The US Defense Secretary on Tuesday reiterated his country's readiness to continue its assistance to enhance the Yemeni army capacity, particularly in training and technical areas. Chuck Hagel made the statement during his meeting with President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is visiting the USA currently at the invitation of President Barack Obama. Hagel praised the level of cooperation between the two countries and Yemen's efforts in counterterrorism field, stressing Washington's keenness to strengthen its relations and mutual cooperation with Yemen at various levels. President Hadi hailed the US experts' efforts alongside the Jordanian team in providing the technical advice in the process of the army reorganization. The USA Department of Defense announced early in July a package of military assistances to the Yemeni border guards, including 12 aircrafts equipped with night vision system and 100 military vehicles in addition to an integrated communication system in order to fight arms and drugs smuggling, terrorist militants sneaking into the country and combat organized crime.