DUBAI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday extended compulsory military service for high school graduates from 12 to 16 months, the UAE state news agency WAM reported.

The UAE government authorized compulsory military service in 2014 based on the Federal Law number six of that year.

Since its implementation, WAM said, "the national service program has achieved positive results and reflected positively on the conduct of the recruits."

Emirati women have the choice to conduct the military service voluntarily.

The UAE has approximately 10.5 million inhabitants, of which 20 percent are nationals.

The UAE is part of a Saudi-led Arab military coalition which has been fighting the Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen since March 2015.

The deadliest clash for the UAE Armed Forces happened on September 4, 2015, when the Houthis fired a ballistic missile on an coalition military base in Yemen, killing at least 45 UAE soldiers.

In recent weeks, the Saudi-led alliance achieved military gains in the contested Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, a strategically important gateway for the capital Sanaa which remains occupied by the Houthis.