[REGNUM] A Houthi-owned missile launch site in Yemen was destroyed by an attack by UAE troops, Al Arabiya reported on January 24.
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Emirates, the object from which the Houthis launched two ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi was destroyed. It was hit by F-16 fighter jets.
In addition, the UAE military said it was able to intercept two missiles fired by the Houthis over Abu Dhabi on January 24.
| Al Ahram adds: |
Videos on social media showed the sky over Abu Dhabi light up before dawn Monday, with what appeared to be interceptor missiles racing into the clouds to target the incoming fire.
Two explosions later thundered through the city. The videos corresponded to known features of Abu Dhabi.
The state-run WAM news agency said that missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.
Navy Capt. Bill Urban, spokesperson for US Central Command, in a statement, acknowledged the assistance of American Patriot missile batteries prevented the Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
missiles from striking targets in Abu Dhabi.
Videos on social media suggested outgoing interceptor fire came from the base.
``The combined efforts successfully prevented both missiles from impacting the base,'' Urban said.
Houthi military front man Yehia Sarei claimed the attack in a televised statement, saying the rebels targeted several sites in the UAE with both Zulfiqar ballistic missiles and drones, including al-Dhafra Air Base. He warned the UAE would continue to be a target ``as long as attacks on the Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i people continue.''
``We warn foreign companies and investors to leave the Emirates!'' Sarei shouted from a podium. ``This has become an unsafe country!''
At al-Dhafra, which hosts both American and British forces, US troops took shelter in bunkers during the attack, the US Air Force's Mideast command said. al-Dhafra is home to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing and has seen armed drones and F-35 stealth fighters stationed there.
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 cope with missile attacks, something unheard of previously in the UAE, a tourist destination home to skyscraper-studded Dubai and its long-haul carrier Emirates.
The Emirati Defense Ministry later tweeted out a black-and-white video that it said showed an F-16 striking the ballistic missile launcher used in the Abu Dhabi attack. The Defense Ministry identified the site as being near al-Jawaf, a Yemeni province around 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) southwest of Abu Dhabi.
The state-linked newspaper The National in Abu Dhabi identified the F-16 as Emirati, raising the question of how directly involved the UAE now is in the fighting after withdrawing most of its ground forces in 2019. The Emiratis continue to back militias on the ground, including the Giants Brigade, which has made advances against the Houthis in recent weeks.
The Zulfiqar ballistic missile, believed to have a range of 1,500 kilometers (930 miles), is modeled after the Iranian Qiam missile, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Iran
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...denies directly arming the Houthis, though United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
experts, Western nations and analysts have linked weapons in the rebels' arsenal back to Tehran.
The attack came a week after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed an attack on the Emirati capital targeting the airport and an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood with drones and cruise missiles. That attack on the fuel depot killed three people and maimed six others.
New, high-resolution satellite photographs obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named from Planet Labs PBC showed repair work still ongoing at the fuel depot Saturday. Emirati officials have not released images of the attacked sites, nor allowed journalists to see them.