ABU DHABI (Washington Insider Magazine) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) claims to have intercepted and downed a ballistic missile launched from Yemen, as the Gulf state welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog on his maiden visit to the country.
The missile’s debris fell on an unoccupied region, according to the UAE’s defense ministry. It was unclear whether the rocket was aimed for Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, or Dubai.
According to the state news agency (WAM), the country’s civil aviation authority stated air traffic was proceeding as usual and all air operations were functioning properly despite the attack.
In a tweet, the Emirati ministry of defense stated it had destroyed a launch point for one of the missiles that had fallen on the UAE. It did not provide any additional information on the site’s actual location.
According to Al Jazeera, Yemen’s Houthi group confirmed firing a series of ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi and multiple drones at Dubai, the major business center, within hours.
In a broadcast presentation, Yahya Saria, a military spokesman for the Iran-aligned group, claimed that the offices of international firms in the UAE will be the focus of strikes in the coming time, confirming earlier warnings.
The UAE is battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen as part of a Saudi-led coalition in a seven-year conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions, and generated what the UN calls the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis.
On Twitter late Sunday, a Houthi military official said the organization would reveal specifics of a significant military operation deep within the UAE within hours. He didn’t go into any further detail.
After UAE-backed Yemeni armed forces acted on front lines where the Houthis had made breakthroughs last year, the Houthis unleashed an assault on Abu Dhabi on January 17 in which three persons were killed, followed by a second missile assault a week later.
The UAE’s defense ministry announced that Saudi coalition fighter jets had struck missile launchers in Yemen.
The public prosecutor of the Gulf state announced last week that several people had been summoned for distributing recordings displaying defense systems preventing a recent missile strike by the Houthis. There were no mentions of the interception on social media.
Herzog met with the UAE’s de facto ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi on Monday to discuss security and bilateral relations.
