Egypt extends mandate in Saudi-led Yemen coalition

Egypt said on Thursday that it would extend for one year its support for Saudi-led coalition forces battling rebels in Yemen.

"The National Defence Council agreed to prolong the participation of its armed forces engaged in a combat mission in the Gulf, the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait," a statement from the office of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said.

Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, has taken part in coalition raids on Iran-backed rebels since March, after the insurgents swept across much of impoverished Yemen.

Extending operations was important "for the period of one year or until the end of the mission," the statement said.

Sisi has in the past sought to justify Egypt's involvement in Yemen's war as necessary in order to secure Red Sea shipping routes including the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which much of Suez Canal traffic travels.

More than 5,800 people have been killed in Yemen since the start of a Saudi-led bombing campaign against rebels, about half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.   

Photo: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a graduation ceremony of the Navy and Air Force academies in Cairo. (Reuters/Al Arabiya)