The US deployed Patriot missile defenses at “two inbound missiles” at Al Dhafra Air Base, US Central Command (CENTCOM) mentioned in a press release. That is the primary firing by the US of Patriot missiles for the reason that first Gulf Struggle in 1991, a senior protection advised CNN.
“The mixed efforts efficiently prevented each missiles from impacting the bottom. There have been no U.S. casualties,” CENTCOM mentioned.
The assault was the second in every week aimed on the UAE, which is a member of the Saudi-led coalition that has been at warfare with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for years, and marked a big escalation in tensions. The UAE has largely prevented the firing line, with Houthis opting as an alternative to strike Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen.
CNN reported earlier that the UAE intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by Houthis early Monday, in what the Iran-backed group warned could be a part of a steady marketing campaign to focus on the Emirati capital.
At 4:15 a.m. Abu Dhabi’s skyline lit up with what witnesses described as “fireballs within the sky.” A few of the capital’s residents woke to the sound of explosions as air protection missiles intercepted the projectiles.
The incident comes every week after a Houthi drone and missile assault close to Abu Dhabi’s airport killed three international staff and injured a number of others.
In a press release Monday, the UAE Ministry of Protection mentioned, “its air protection has intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the terrorist Houthi group.”
“The assault didn’t lead to any casualties, because the remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” the assertion added.
The ministry mentioned it’s “able to cope with any threats, and that it takes all obligatory measures to guard the state from all assaults.”
A number of flights had been delayed arriving into Abu Dhabi airport, based on the airport’s web site. Flight monitoring web site Flightradar24 confirmed Abu Dhabi-bound planes flying in circles close to the airport.
The US embassy in Abu Dhabi additionally known as on US residents within the UAE to take care of a “excessive degree of safety consciousness,” issuing a collection of directions on how to reply to a missile assault.
Shortly after Monday’s incident in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s Ministry of Protection mentioned an F-16 fighter jet had destroyed the ballistic missile launcher used to focus on the UAE capital. It didn’t specify what nation the plane belonged to.
Yemen’s Houthis claimed they had been concentrating on the UAE’s business hub of Dubai in addition to Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra airbase, which hosts america Air Pressure’s 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree on Monday warned that the group would “develop their operations over the subsequent part.”
“We’re calling on international firms and buyers to go away the UAE,” Saree mentioned in a video assertion. “It’s topic to steady concentrating on.”
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly been ranked one of many most secure cities on the planet, with the January 17 strike thought of “unprecedented” by Emirati officers.
For many years, the UAE staved off turbulence within the crisis-ridden area, attracting hundreds of thousands of expatriates and huge volumes of international funding. The nation’s financial system depends closely on a international workforce.
An escalation in week-long violence
Yemen’s Houthis had vowed to retaliate for a collection of lethal airstrikes over the past week by the Saudi-led coalition — of which the UAE is a serious accomplice — in northern Yemen which killed scores of individuals. The airstrikes additionally knocked out the web nationwide after hitting a telecommunications tower.
A nation-wide web outage entered its fourth day in Yemen on Monday, based on web watchdog NetBlocks.
The United Nations Safety Council final Friday unanimously condemned the January 17 strike within the UAE capital.
The offensive started in 2015 to revive Yemen’s internationally acknowledged authorities, after it was ousted by the Houthis. The coalition has intensified its assaults within the war-torn nation within the wake of the Houthi missile and drone strike in Abu Dhabi final week.
In 2019, the UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen, after privately deeming the warfare unwinnable. The marketing campaign didn’t crush the rebels however exacted an enormous humanitarian toll, with 1000’s of Yemenis useless and malnourishment and illness widespread.
Extra not too long ago, the UAE has returned to the battle, backing Yemeni teams in flashpoints just like the oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib.
