UAE Says It Has Intercepted 2 Missiles From Yemen’s Houthis: NPR

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — 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 strike in a week targeting the Emirati capital.

The missile launch further heightens tensions in the Persian Gulf, which had previously seen a series of attacks close but never incontrovertible on Emirati soil amid Yemen’s years-long war and the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with U.S. nations. World powers.

The attacks threaten the efforts of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhs on the Arabian Peninsula that is also home to business-friendly, tourism-focused Dubai. For years, the country has promoted itself as a safe corner of an otherwise dangerous neighborhood.

Videos on social media showed the Abu Dhabi sky lighting up before dawn on Monday, with what appeared to be interceptor missiles racing into the clouds to target incoming fire. Later, two explosions echoed through the city. The videos corresponded to known features of Abu Dhabi.

The state news agency WAM said missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.

The Emirates “stands ready and ready to deal with any threat and takes all necessary measures to protect the state from all attacks,” WAM quoted the UAE Defense Ministry as saying.

The missile launch disrupted traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport, home to long-haul carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.

Houthi military spokesman Yehia Sarea claimed responsibility for the attack in a televised statement, saying the rebels attacked the UAE with ballistic missiles and drones. He warned that the United Arab Emirates would remain a target “as long as the attacks against the Yemeni people continue.”

“We warn foreign companies and investors to leave the Emirates!” Sarea yelled from a podium. “This has become an unsafe country!”

The US Embassy in Abu Dhabi later issued a security alert for Americans living in the United Arab Emirates, warning citizens to “maintain a high level of security awareness.” The alert included instructions on how to deal with missile strikes, something never before seen in the United Arab Emirates, a tourist destination that is home to skyscraper-studded Dubai and its long-haul airline Emirates.

The attack came a week after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed an attack on the UAE capital against the airport and an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood. That attack on the fuel depot killed three people and injured six others.

New high-resolution satellite photos obtained by the AP from Planet Labs PBC showed repair work was still underway on the fuel depot on Saturday. Emirati officials have not released images of the targeted sites or allowed journalists to see them.

In recent days, a Saudi-led, UAE-backed coalition has unleashed punitive airstrikes on Yemen, taking the Arab world’s poorest country offline and killing more than 80 people in a detention center.

The Houthis had threatened revenge on the Emirates and Saudi Arabia for those attacks. On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said a Houthi-launched ballistic missile landed in an industrial area in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, slightly injuring a foreigner.

The hardline Iranian daily Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a front-page article on Sunday quoting Houthi officials as saying the UAE would be attacked again with one headline: towers.” .

In 2017, the newspaper faced a two-day publication ban after running a headline that Dubai was the Houthis’ “next target”.

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Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre, Malak Harb and Lujain Jo in Dubai, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.