Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement said Monday it had carried out a military attack on the United Arab Emirates, attacking the airport in Abu Dhabi and an industrial area and killing three people, according to reports. The attack was another brazen effort by the Iran-backed Houthis specifically targeting civilians. Some 300 drone and other attack were launched by the Houthis into neighboring Saudi Arabia just last year. Such an attack on the UAE is rare.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group fired five ballistic missiles and “a large number” of drones at Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports, an oil refinery in Musaffah and several “sensitive” sites in the UAE, according to Reuters.
“The Houthis have claimed responsibility for this attack, and we will work with the U.A.E. and international partners to hold them accountable,” the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, condemned the attack, according to Reuters, citing the UAE state news agency. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington would work to hold the Houthis accountable.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister H.H Prince Faisal bin Farhan also held a call with the Emirati foreign minister to express his full support of UAE security.
“We reiterate that those responsible for this unlawful targeting of our country will be held accountable,” the UAE foreign ministry of the UAE said in a statement.
Houthi forces say about 20 people were killed in Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the capital, Sana’a, a day after the Houthi drone attack.
The attack follows notable gains by the Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen in key battle sites over the previous few weeks, shifting the war’s momentum.
Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister Prince Khalid Bin Salman said the attack was a threat to the region’s security.
“The terrorist attack by the Iran backed Houthis against KSA & the UAE represents a threat to our region’s security. The Houthis aren’t interested in peace and remain hostage to their regional backer, which treats our region’s security as a mere negotiating card…They continue to reject all UN and other peace proposals put forth by the Kingdom and the international community, endangering the wellbeing of the brotherly Yemeni people and threatening the global economy with acts of terrorism,” Prince Khalid said on Twitter.
