ABU DHABI: The UAE vowed reprisals after a drone attack claimed by Yemen’s Huthi rebels triggered a fuel tank blast that killed three people in Abu Dhabi.
The United Arab Emirates is part of a Saudi-led military coalition that supports Yemen’s government against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia with cross border strikes.
But this is the first deadly assault on its own soil acknowledged by the UAE and claimed by the rebels, who said they had fired ballistic missiles and deployed armed drones.
Two Indians and a Pakistani working for oil giant Adnoc died as three petrol tanks exploded near a storage facility, while a fire also ignited in a construction area at Abu Dhabi airport in the heart of the UAE, a renowned safe haven in the volatile Middle East.
Police said “small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones” were found at both sites. Drone attacks have been a hallmark of the rebels’ assaults on neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
“We condemn the Huthi terrorist militia’s targeting of civilian areas and facilities on UAE soil today...this sinful targeting will not go unpunished,” UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said in a statement, as his ministry described the attack as a “heinous criminal escalation”.
Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said that they had “carried out... a successful military operation” against “important and sensitive Emirati sites and installations” using both ballistic missiles and drones.
The incident follows a surge in fighting in Yemen including advances by UAE-trained troops. The rebels also seized a UAE-flagged ship and its international crew earlier this month.
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