The decision earlier this month by Sudan to further slash the number of its troops deployed in Yemen came as no surprise. Jamal Juma Adam, spokesman for Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, informed news agencies on Jan. 14 that only 657 Sudanese soldiers remain in Yemen.

The estimated 30,000 soldiers deployed in Yemen in June as part of the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthis since March 2015 had been cut to some 15,000 in September and then to 5,000 in December.

Several factors have contributed to the drawdown. Among the first were the Sudanese uprising that began in December 2018, sparked by the high price of bread and general economic crisis. Months later, in April 2019, the military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir, who had held power for 30 years, but the protests continued, including pressure on the transitional military government to withdraw troops from Yemen.

In announcing the recent drawdown, Adam had remarked, “The Sudanese troops in Yemen had been operating in two sectors, the [United Arab Emirates] sector inside Aden, and the Saudi sector that extends along the Saudi-Yemeni border.” Exact figures are not available, but the Sudanese forces have reportedly suffered significant losses, with casualties estimated in the thousands.