The missile fire disrupted traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport, which was home to the long-range carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.
The United Arab Emirates intercepted two ballistic missiles claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the skies of Abu Dhabi early Monday, officials said, the second attack in a week that targeted the emirate’s capital.
The missile fire further escalated tensions in the Persian Gulf, which had previously seen several attacks on Emirati soil amid Yemen’s years of war and the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers – but never undeniably . American soldiers took shelter in bunkers at the capital’s al-Dhafra air base during the attack.
The attacks threaten the business-friendly, tourism-focused efforts of the emirate, also home to Dubai, a federation of seven sheikhs on the Arabian Peninsula. For years, the country has marketed itself as a safe corner of an otherwise dangerous neighborhood.
Videos on social media showed the sky over Abu Dhabi shining brightly before dawn on Monday, with interceptor missiles running into the clouds to target incoming fire. Two explosions later roared through the city. The videos are in line with the known features of Abu Dhabi.
State-run WAM news agency said missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.
WAM quoted the UAE Ministry of Defense as saying, “The emirate is “ready and ready to deal with any threat and takes all necessary measures to protect the kingdom from all attacks.”
The missile fire disrupted traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport, which was home to the long-range carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.
Houthi military spokesman Yehia Sarei claimed the attack in a televised statement, saying the rebels targeted several sites in the United Arab Emirates, including Al-Dhafra Air Base, with both Zulfiqar ballistic missiles and drones. He warned that as long as attacks on the Yemeni people continued, the UAE would remain a target.
“We warn foreign companies and investors to leave the Emirates!” Everyone shouted from one stage. “It has become an unsafe country!”
The Dubai financial market fell 2% after the attack, with nearly every company trading down. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange also fell slightly.
The US Air Force’s Mideast Command said that in al-Dhafra, which hosts both American and British forces, American soldiers took refuge in bunkers during the attack. Al-Dhafra is home to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and has seen armed drones and F-35 stealth fighters stationed there.
“During an attack near Abu Dhabi, US military forces successfully responded to multiple internal threats,” the air force said without elaborating. Videos on social media suggested that the outgoing interceptor had come from the fire base.
The US embassy in Abu Dhabi later issued a security alert to Americans living in the UAE, warning citizens to “maintain a high level of security awareness”. The alert included instructions on how to deal with missile attacks, something previously unheard of in the UAE, a tourist destination for skyscraper Dubai and its long-haul carrier the emirate.
“If these types of attacks happen on a weekly basis, as they do in Saudi Arabia … it will change the perception of the threat landscape in the UAE,” said Torbjön Saltvet, an analyst at risk advisory Verisk Maplecroft. ” “The concern now is that this transition is going to be widespread if we start seeing attacks against civilian infrastructure.”
The Emirati Defense Ministry later tweeted a black-and-white video that showed an F-16 shooting down the ballistic missile launcher used in the Abu Dhabi attack. The Ministry of Defense has identified the site as being near the Yemeni province of Al-Jawaf, about 1,400 kilometers (870 mi) southwest of Abu Dhabi.
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State-linked newspaper The National in Abu Dhabi identified the F-16s as Emirati, raising questions about how the UAE is now directly involved in the fight after withdrawing most of its ground forces in 2019. The Emirati continue to support the militia. The ground, which also includes the Giants’ Brigade, has made progress against the Houthis in recent weeks.
According to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Zulfiqar ballistic missile, which has a range of 1,500 kilometers (930 mi), is modeled after the Iranian Qiam missile. Iran denies direct arms to the Houthis, although UN experts, Westerners and analysts have linked the weapons in the rebels’ arsenals back to Tehran.
The attack comes a week after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an attack targeting the airport and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company fuel depot in the Musafa neighbourhood. Three people were killed and six others were injured in that attack on the fuel depot. The Houthis are yet to identify the missiles used in last week’s attack.
New, high-resolution satellite images obtained by the AP from Planet Labs PBC showed repair work at the fuel depot on Saturday. Emirati officials have neither released photos of the attack sites nor allowed journalists to see them.
In recent days, the Saudi-led coalition, backed by the United Arab Emirates, launched punitive airstrikes targeting Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country off the internet and more than 80 people in a detention center. killed.
The Houthis had threatened revenge on the Emirate and Saudi Arabia for those attacks. On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said a Houthi-launched ballistic missile landed in an industrial area in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan. Television footage showed the missile tore a deep pit in the ground and slightly injuring two foreigners of Bangladeshi and Sudanese nationality.
The hard-line Iranian daily newspaper Kahan, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a front-page article on Sunday quoting Houthi officials that attacked the UAE again with a headline Will go to: “Evacuate Emirati Commercial Tower. ,
The newspaper faced a two-day publication ban in 2017 after it ran a headline saying that Dubai was the “next target” for the Houthis.
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