Sanaa, January 25, 2026 (Agencies) – An investigative report cited by Anadolu Agency, drawing on United States sources, has presented evidence alleging the involvement of the United Arab Emirates in a series of assassination operations targeting senior figures of Yemen’s Al-Islah Party. The operations were reportedly carried out by a specialized assassination unit linked to a private American security company.
The report follows a recent call by the international law firm Stock White to grant the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey international jurisdiction to arrest Emirati officials accused of war crimes in Yemen. The move has renewed scrutiny of assassination operations allegedly conducted during the period of Emirati involvement in the conflict.
According to Anadolu, BuzzFeed reported that the UAE assigned a mediating role to Mohammed Dahlan, an adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, to contract the American private security firm Spear Operations. The company, composed of former US special forces personnel, was allegedly tasked with forming a mercenary unit to assassinate political and religious figures linked to the Al-Islah Party.
BuzzFeed quoted Abraham Golan, a Hungarian-Israeli security contractor and former commander of the alleged program, as saying that the targeted assassination campaign in Yemen was commissioned by the UAE. The report described the reliance on American private military contractors as part of a broader shift in modern warfare, moving from conventional military operations toward targeted killings resembling organized transnational criminal activity.
The investigation also highlighted the growing privatization of warfare, with states increasingly relying on private military firms. Conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are cited as key factors in the rise of such companies, many of which were established by former special forces personnel who transitioned into private security work.
According to BuzzFeed, an Emirati officer allegedly provided the mercenary team with a list of 23 assassination targets, including Al-Islah members and religious scholars. The team reportedly received $1.5 million per month, along with additional payments for each successful operation. Golan said the deal to bring the mercenaries to Aden was finalized during a lunch meeting at an Italian restaurant inside the officers’ club of an Emirati military base in Abu Dhabi, hosted by Dahlan.
Spear Operations describes itself as a US-based private security company offering a range of military and security services, including firearms training, protection for officials and business leaders, drone operations and digital security within electronic warfare technologies.
The report also pointed to a legal grey zone surrounding private military activity. US law does not explicitly criminalize private military operations or the participation of American citizens as mercenaries abroad, allowing such companies to operate with limited legal constraints.
The UAE has not issued any official comment on the allegations. Meanwhile, the US Central Intelligence Agency said it has no information regarding a mercenary assassination program in Yemen, although experts interviewed by BuzzFeed suggested it would be unlikely for such operations to take place without some level of US awareness.