Sudan and Yemen defence ministers on Wednesday signed a military cooperation agreement on peace operations and counter-terrorism.

Lt-Gen Mohsen al-Daeri concluded on Wednesday a five-day visit to Sudan where he held meetings with his Sudanese counterpart Yassin Ibrahim, visited the military-industrial complex in Khartoum and attended the graduation of Yemeni officers at the military college.

In a statement released at the end of his visit, the Defence Ministry said that Ibrahim and al-Daeri signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on military cooperation providing a legal framework for strengthening and developing joint cooperation in the fields of training and visits of military delegations at all levels.

“The MoU dealt with providing the necessary support related to peace operations, crisis management, counter-terrorism operations and maritime piracy,” further said the statement.

The Sudanese army was heavily involved in the civil war in Yemen under the umbrella of the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthi group in support of the internationally recognised government.

In December 2019, Sudan reduced its troop strength in Yemen from 15,000 to 5,000 men.

Nowadays, the number of Sudanese troops in Yemen is unknown, but officials say they have no significant presence.

Under the new deal, the participation of the Sudanese troops in the anti-Houthi war would no longer be under the banner of the Saudi-led coalition but according to this bilateral agreement.

The deal took place as the military leaders say ready to hand over power to a fully civilian government.

The military wanted to have the capacity to sign a military cooperation agreement with foreign countries, but the civilians say the decision should be taken by the government, not the army.

The civilian forces signatory of the political framework agreement handed over to the military component their position paper on five sticky issues including the reform of the security forces.