- Houthis Vow “Continued Attacks” On Israel-Bound Ships | Iran Slams Attack On “Yemen’s Sovereignty” CRUX
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels warn Sunak and Biden: ‘Your involvement will never go unanswered’ The Independent
- Houthis Vow More Ship Attacks After US, UK Airstrikes in Yemen: Live Updates Bloomberg
- Yemen’s Houthis say Red Sea attacks do not threaten peace with Riyadh Yahoo News
- Middle East crisis live: US and UK airstrikes in Yemen will not go without ‘punishment or retaliation’, say Houthis The Guardian
Tag Archives: Houthis
‘Will Send Fighters To Palestine’: How Houthis Are Benefiting From Red Sea Attacks, Gaza War | Watch – Hindustan Times
- ‘Will Send Fighters To Palestine’: How Houthis Are Benefiting From Red Sea Attacks, Gaza War | Watch Hindustan Times
- Biden Urged to Reject Military Attack on Yemen as Red Sea Tensions Soar Common Dreams
- Yemen carrying out general mobilization in support of people in Gaza Al Mayadeen English
- Ansarullah leader sounds death knell for Israeli-US plots as Red Sea boils Press TV
- Yemeni Houthi Official Abdullah Al-Na’ami Responds To U.S.-Led Naval Coalition In The Red Sea: I Warn The U.S., Any Aggression Against Yemen Will Expose The International Waterways To Real And Imminent Danger; We Are Ready To Fight The U. Middle East Media Research Institute
US Navy says trawler carrying arms haul was bound for Yemen | Houthis News
US Navy says the boat was carrying more than one million rounds of ammunition and was intercepted along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.
The United States Navy says it has intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling more than 50 tonnes of ammunition — including more than 1 million bullet rounds, thousands of rocket fuses, and a large amount of propellant for rocket-propelled grenades — in the Gulf of Oman.
In a statement on Saturday, the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said the “illicit cargo” was discovered on December 1 “during a flag verification boarding” and was the second major weapons seizure in a month along a maritime route from Iran to war-torn Yemen.
“The direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis in Yemen violates UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and international law,” the US navy said in the statement.
On November 8, the fleet intercepted a fishing vessel transporting more than 70 tonnes of ammonium perchlorate, which is used in the production of rocket and missile fuel, as well as explosives, and 100 tonnes of urea fertiliser, which is used in agriculture but can also be used in explosives.
US Vice Admiral Brad Cooper accused Iran of being behind the latest shipment.
“This significant interdiction clearly shows that Iran’s unlawful transfer of lethal aid and destabilising behaviour continues,” he said in the statement.
On Dec. 1, U.S. naval forces in the Middle East intercepted a fishing trawler smuggling more than 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses and propellants for rockets in the Gulf of Oman along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.
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— U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet (@US5thFleet) December 3, 2022
The US and Saudi Arabia accuse Iran of arming Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who seized the country’s capital Sanaa in 2014.
Tehran has denied the charge; Iran has previously said it supports the Houthis politically but denies sending the group weapons.
The war in Yemen, which has pitted the Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition, has killed hundreds of thousands and pushed the impoverished nation to the brink of famine.
A United Nations-brokered ceasefire that took effect in April brought a sharp reduction in hostilities. The truce expired in October, though fighting largely remains on hold.
There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Houthis or the Iranian government.
US Navy: 70 tons of missile fuel from Iran to Yemen seized
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Tuesday it found 70 tons of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertilizer aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran, the first-such seizure in that country’s yearslong war as a cease-fire there has broken down.
The Navy said the amount of ammonium perchlorate discovered could fuel more than a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles, the same weapons Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have used to target both forces allied to the country’s internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition that supports them.
The apparent rearming effort comes as Iran has threatened Saudi Arabia, the United States and other nations over the monthslong protests calling for the overthrow the Islamic Republic’s theocracy. Tehran blames foreign powers — rather than its own frustrated population — for fomenting the protests, which have seen at least 344 people killed and 15,820 people arrested amid a widening crackdown on dissent there.
“This type of shipment and just the massive volume of explosive material is a serious concern because it is destabilizing,” Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet, told The Associated Press. “The unlawful transport of weapons from Iran to Yemen leads to instability and violence.”
A United Nations arms embargo has prohibited weapons transfers to the Houthis since 2014. Iran’s mission to the United Nations told the AP early Wednesday that it “adheres” to the ban, even as it has long been transferring rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles and other weaponry to the Houthis via the sea.
Independent experts, Western nations and U.N. experts have traced components seized aboard detained vessels back to Iran.
“It is Iran’s goal to restore the cease-fire as soon as possible and to establish peace and stability in Yemen by creating dialogue between Yemeni groups,” the Iranian mission said.
The Houthis did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Coast Guard ship USCGC John Scheuerman and guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans stopped a traditional wooden sailing vessel known as a dhow in the Gulf of Oman on Nov. 8, the Navy said. During a weeklong search, sailors discovered bags of ammonium perchlorate hidden inside of what initially appeared to be a shipment of 100 tons of urea.
Urea, a fertilizer, also can be used to manufacture explosives.
The dhow was so weighted down by the shipment that it posed a hazard to nearby shipping in the Gulf of Oman, a route that leads from the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, out to the Indian Ocean. The Navy ended up sinking the ship with much of the material still on board due to the danger, Hawkins said.
The Sullivans handed over the four Yemeni crew members to the country’s internationally recognized government Tuesday.
Asked how the Navy knew to stop the ship, Hawkins only said the Navy knew through “multiple means” that the vessel carried the fuel and that it came from Iran bound for Yemen. He declined to elaborate.
“Given the fact it was on a route usually used to smuggle illicit weapons and drugs from Iran to Yemen really tells you what you need to know,” Hawkins said. “It clearly wasn’t intended for good.”
The Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen’s exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine.
A six-month cease-fire in Yemen’s war, the longest of the conflict, expired in October despite diplomatic efforts to renew it. That’s led to fears the war could again escalate. More than 150,000 people have been killed in Yemen during the fighting, including over 14,500 civilians.
There have been sporadic attacks since the cease-fire expired. In late October, a Houthi drone attack targeted a Greek cargo ship near the port city of Mukalla, causing no damage to the vessel.
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Yemen rebels strike oil depot in Saudi city hosting F1 race
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot on Friday in the Saudi city of Jiddah ahead of a Formula One race in the kingdom — their highest-profile assault yet that threatened to disrupt the upcoming grand prix.
The attack targeted the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days, the North Jiddah Bulk Plant that sits just southeast of the city’s international airport and is a crucial hub for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
The Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Saudi authorities acknowledged a “hostile operation” by the Houthis targeting the depot, without describing the weapon used in the attack.
The attacks came as Saudi Arabia still leads a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital of Sanaa in September 2014. The kingdom, which entered the war in Yemen in 2015, has been internationally criticized for its airstrikes killing that have killed scores of civilians — something the Houthis point to as they launch drones, missiles and mortars into the kingdom.
Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the fire damaged two tanks and was put out without injuries.
“This hostile escalation targets oil facilities and aims to undermine energy security and the backbone of global economy,” al-Malki said, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. “These hostile attacks had no impact or repercussions in any way, shape or form on public life in Jiddah.”
An Associated Press photojournalist covering practice laps at the F1 track in Jiddah saw the smoke rising in the distance to the east, just after 5:40 p.m. As the flames rose, the tops of the tanks of the bulk plant were clearly visible some 11.5 kilometers (7 miles) away.
Drivers raced on into the evening even as the fire burned.
The second-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jiddah is taking place on Sunday, though concerns had been raised by some over the recent attacks targeting the kingdom.
The F1 said in a statement that: “The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened.” The F1 did not elaborate.
The al-Masirah satellite news channel run by Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed they had attacked an Aramco facility in Jiddah, along with other targets in Riyadh and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Saudi state TV also acknowledged attacks in the town of Dhahran targeting water tanks that damaged vehicles and homes. Another attack targeted an electrical substation in an area of southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border, state TV said.
The North Jiddah Bulk Plant stores diesel, gasoline and jet fuel for use in Jiddah, the kingdom’s second-largest city. It accounts for over a quarter of all of Saudi Arabia’s supplies and also supplies fuel crucial to running a regional desalination plant.
The Houthis have twice targeted the North Jiddah plant with cruise missiles. One attack came in November 2020. The last came on Sunday as part of a wider barrage by the Houthis.
At the time of the 2020 attack, the targeted tank, which has a capacity of 500,000 barrels, held diesel fuel, according to a recent report by a U.N. panel of experts examining Yemen’s war. Repairing it after the last attack cost Aramco some $1.5 million.
The U.N. experts described the facility as a “civilian target,” which the Houthis should have avoided after the 2020 attack.
“While the facility also supplies the Saudi military with petroleum products, it is mostly supplying civilian customers,” the panel said. “If the plant had been out of service of a significant period, the impact on the kingdom’s economy as well as on the welfare of the residents of the Western region would likely have been significant.”
Cruise missiles and drones remain difficult to defend against, though the U.S. recently sent a significant number of Patriot anti-missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia to resupply the kingdom amid the Houthi attacks.
In September, the AP reported that the U.S. had removed its own Patriot and THAAD defense systems from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh.
The attacks have renewed questions about the kingdom’s ability to defend itself from Houthi fire as a yearslong war in the Arab world’s poorest country rages on with no end in sight. It also comes as Saudi Arabia issued an unusually stark warning that it is unable to guarantee its oil production won’t be affected by further attacks — which could push global energy prices even higher amid Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Benchmark Brent crude prices briefly rose above $120 a barrel in trading Friday.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Yemen Houthis attack Saudi energy facilities, refinery output hit
RIYADH, March 20 (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group fired missiles and drones at Saudi energy and water desalination facilities, causing a temporary drop in output at a refinery but no casualties, the Saudi energy ministry said on Sunday.
Drone strikes hit a petroleum products distribution terminal in the southern Jizan region, a natural gas plant and the Yasref refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the ministry said in a statement.
“The assault on Yasref facilities has led to a temporary reduction in the refinery’s production, which will be compensated for from the inventory,” it said, referring to Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec).
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Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told a call about the firm’s earnings there was no impact from the attacks on its supply to customers. read more nL2N2VN03N]
The Saudi led-coalition battling the Houthis earlier said the assaults on Saturday night and Sunday morning had also aimed at a water desalination plant in Al-Shaqeeq, a power station in Dhahran al Janub and a gas facility in Khamis Mushait.
It said the attacks and debris from intercepted projectiles caused material damage but no loss of life.
Saudi Civil Defence member is seen at the site of what Saudi-led coalition claims was a drone a attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group, that targeted the Al-Shaqeeq desalination plant and the Aramco facility, in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, March 20, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group fired ballistic and winged missiles as well as drones at Aramco facilities in the capital Riyadh, Yanbu and “other areas,” followed by attacks on “vital targets” in other Saudi regions.
The coalition said initial investigations showed the group used Iranian-made cruise missiles on the desalination plant and Aramco’s Jizan distribution centre. It said Saudi air defences intercepted a ballistic missile and nine drones.
State media posted images and videos of projectile debris, damaged cars and structures, and firefighters dousing flames.
POSSIBLE TRUCE
Saudi Arabia has struggled to extricate itself from the seven-year conflict which has killed tens of thousands and left millions of Yemenis facing starvation. Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia have also endangered the kingdom’s airports, oil facilities and caused some civilian deaths.
United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg is discussing a possible truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which starts in April, his office said on Sunday. It was unclear if both sides had agreed on the U.N. plans. read more
The Houthis ousted Yemen’s government from the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, prompting the alliance to intervene. The conflict is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
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Reporting by Moataz Mohamed, Yasmin Hussein and Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Saeed Azhar and Maha El Dahan in Dubai
Writing by Ghaida Ghantous
Editing by Frances Kerry and Mark Potter
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UAE, US intercept Houthi missile attack targeting Abu Dhabi
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates and the U.S. military intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the skies of Abu Dhabi early Monday, authorities said, the second attack in a week that targeted the Emirati capital.
The missile fire further escalates tensions across the Persian Gulf, which previously had seen a series of assaults near — but never indisputably on — Emirati soil. It comes during Yemen’s yearslong war and the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. The 2,000 American troops at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the capital took shelter in bunkers during the attack and launched Patriot missiles, a rare return of fire.
The attacks threaten the business-friendly, tourism-focused efforts of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula also home to Dubai. For years, the country has marketed itself as a safe corner of an otherwise-dangerous neighborhood.
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.
The Emirates is “ready to deal with any threats and … it takes all necessary measures to protect the state from all attacks,” WAM quoted the UAE Defense Ministry as saying.
Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, in a statement acknowledged the assistance of American Patriot missile batteries prevented the Houthi 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.
The missile fire disrupted traffic into Abu Dhabi International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.
Houthi military spokesman 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 Yemeni people continue.”
“We warn foreign companies and investors to leave the Emirates!” Sarei shouted from a podium. “This has become an unsafe country!”
The Dubai Financial Market closed down nearly 2% after the attack, with nearly every company trading down. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange also fell slightly.
At Al-Dhafra, which hosts both American and British forces, U.S. troops took shelter in bunkers during the attack, the U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
“If these types of attacks end up occurring on a weekly basis as they do in the Saudi Arabia … that will shift the perception of the threat landscape in the UAE,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst with risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. “The concern is now the contagion is going to be broader if we start to see attacks against civilian infrastructure.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with both the Emirati and Saudi ambassadors Monday to discuss the recent Houthi attacks and “joint efforts to hold the Houthis accountable,” the White House said. He also “underscored the importance of all parties to the conflict abiding by their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
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 in Yemen’s al-Jawf province. A satellite image from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press early Tuesday confirmed the strike took place near the city of al-Hazm, around 1,350 kilometers (840 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 denies directly arming the Houthis, though United Nations experts, Western nations and analysts have linked weapons in the rebels’ arsenal back to Tehran.
“It’s got the classic elements of the coercive strategy,” said Tim Wright, a research analyst at IISS. “In this case, it’s to make them back down on their support” of the Giants Brigade.
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 wounded six others.
New, high-resolution satellite photographs obtained by the AP from Planet Labs 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.
In recent days, a Saudi-led coalition that the UAE backs unleashed punishing airstrikes targeting Yemen, knocking the Arab world’s poorest country off the internet for days and killing over 80 people at a detention center. The internet came back on in Yemen early Tuesday, according to data from advocacy group NetBlocks and the internet firm Cloudflare.
The Houthis had threaten to take revenge against the Emirates and Saudi Arabia over those attacks. On Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said a Houthi-launched ballistic missile landed in an industrial area in Jizan, Saudi Arabia. The missile tore a deep crater in the ground, television footage showed, and slightly wounded two foreigners of Bangladeshi and Sudanese nationality.
The hard-line Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just Sunday published a front-page article quoting Houthi officials that the UAE would be attacked again with a headline: “Evacuate Emirati commercial towers.”
The newspaper in 2017 had faced a two-day publication ban after it ran a headline saying Dubai was the “next target” for the Houthis.
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Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington; Isabel DeBre, Malak Harb and Lujain Jo in Dubai; Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
UAE blocks missile attack as Yemen’s Houthis target region’s business hub
DUBAI, Jan 24 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates on Monday said it had foiled another Houthi missile attack following last week’s deadly assault on the Gulf state as the Iran-aligned group takes aim at the safe haven status of the region’s tourism and commercial hub.
Yemen’s Houthis, battling a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE, have said they aim to make Abu Dhabi pay a high price for backing militias that are blocking Houthi attempts to capture prized oil regions.
The Houthis have repeatedly carried out cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, and on Jan. 17 the group raised the stakes with an unprecedented assault on the UAE.
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The UAE defence ministry said it intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles on Monday with no casualties. It said remnants fell in separate areas around the capital Abu Dhabi and that it was taking protective measures against attacks.
The Houthi military spokesman said the group fired Zulfiqar ballistic missiles at al-Dhafra airbase in Abu Dhabi, which is used by the United States, alongside other “sensitive targets”. The group launched drones at Dubai, he added.
“We advise foreign companies and investors in the UAE to leave as it has become unsafe,” spokesman Yahya Sarea said, adding the group was ready to “meet escalation with escalation”.
The coalition has in the past week conducted deadly air strikes in Yemen it says are aimed at crippling the capabilities of the movement in a conflict that is largely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The U.S. embassy, in a rare security advisory for the UAE, on Monday urged its citizens to “maintain a high level of security awareness”. read more
Monday’s attack was the second on UAE soil since last week’s strike that hit a fuel depot in Abu Dhabi, killing three people, and causing a fire near its international airport.S8N2QO04R
James Swanston of Capital Economics said further attacks could unnerve tourists planning trips to the UAE, and that any major hit on the OPEC member state’s oil production facilities would pose a downside risk to GDP growth.
Remains of ballistic missile that was intercepted in an industrial area are seen, in south of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, January 24, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS
Read More
ESCALATION
The UAE, a major international travel hub, had so far escaped violence that has engulfed other Middle East states.
The Dubai benchmark stock index was down 2%, while the Abu Dhabi stock index declined 0.3% as of trading on Monday. Higher oil prices were providing support to markets, analysts said.
“It’s pretty surprising (the attacks)…Overall I feel safe but I don’t know how it will escalate,” American medical student Talia Rivera, 19, told Reuters at an Abu Dhabi shopping centre.
Spanish tourist Arabela Fernandez Rabena, 30, said she did not plan to cut short her holiday in one of the few countries open during the pandemic. “I think the Emirates is very strong and defend the people that live here.”
The UAE, which has an advanced anti-missile interception system, on Monday published a video of what it described as an F-16 warplane destroying a Houthi missile launcher in Yemen.
The Houthis said Monday’s operation also struck Saudi Arabia, where state media said remnants from an intercepted missile caused damage in a southern industrial area.
On Sunday night, state media said a ballistic missile fell near another region in the south, injuring two foreigners and causing damage in an industrial area. read more
The United Nations, which along with the United States has struggled to engineer a ceasefire for Yemen, has called for maximum restraint by both sides.
Coalition air strikes on Yemen killed at least 60 people in Saada province on Friday, and about 20 people in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday.
The coalition intervened in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from Sanaa. The group says it is fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
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Additional reporting by Lilian Wagdy, Lisa Barrington and Saeed Azhar; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Michael Perry, Kirsten Donovan, William Maclean
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Ballistic missiles intercepted over Abu Dhabi; U.S. State Department issues alert
An Emirati woman paddles a canoe past skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019.
Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates intercepted two incoming ballistic missiles over its capital Abu Dhabi early Monday morning, state media agency WAM reported.
“The Ministry of Defence announced on Monday that its air defence forces had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles targeting the UAE, which were fired by the Houthi terrorist militia,” the agency said.
The ministry confirmed that there were no casualties from the attack, and that “fragments of the ballistic missiles fell in different areas” around Abu Dhabi.
The U.S. State Department issued a security alert shortly after the attempted attack, warning Americans in the area to take precautionary measures.
“There have been reports of a possible missile attack and accompanying missile defense activity over Abu Dhabi early this morning. The Embassy reminds all U.S. citizens in the United Arab Emirates to maintain a high level of security awareness,” the alert read.
The targeted missile launch comes just one week after a deadly Houthi-claimed attack on Abu Dhabi that used what UAE officials say were drones and missiles. The strikes hit a fuel storage facility of state oil firm ADNOC and a construction site near Abu Dhabi International airport, killing three people.
“The Houthi militia in Yemen has claimed responsibility for the January 17 attack on Abu Dhabi and stated an intent to attack neighboring countries, including the UAE, using missiles and unmanned aerial systems (drones),” the State Department alert said.
The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel movement backed by Iran, have since 2015 been at war with a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE. The bloody and drawn-out conflict, which has pushed tens of thousands of Yemenis into famine, was set off with the Saudi-led bombing offensive that started in March of 2015 after Houthi militants took over Yemen’s government and pushed out a leadership that was backed by the Saudis.
While Abu Dhabi largely reduced its country’s ground forces from Yemen in 2019, it still supports proxy forces there, some of which have stripped Houthis of key territorial gains after months of heavy fighting. Analysts say the attacks on the UAE are retaliation for that.
Drone use — even commercial — has been banned across the UAE, and the Ministry of Defense said Monday it has “full readiness to deal with any threats,” and that it will “take all necessary measures to protect the UAE from any attacks.”
Oil hits seven-year high as Houthi attack on UAE rattles regional tensions
A storage facility of oil giant ADNOC near the airport in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, on Jan. 17, 2022.
AFP | Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates has vowed to retaliate against Houthi militants for a deadly attack on its capital Abu Dhabi on Monday that killed three people, as fresh tensions in the region helped push oil prices to their highest level in seven years.
“We condemn the Houthi militia’s targeting of civilian areas and facilities on UAE soil today,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement following the attacks. “We reiterate that those responsible for this unlawful targeting of our country will be held accountable.”
The ministry added that the UAE “reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and criminal escalation.”
International benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.6% to $87.89 a barrel on Tuesday morning, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures jumped more than 2% to hit $85.56 during early morning deals. Both oil contracts notched their highest level since Oct. 2014 after a subdued trading day on Monday as U.S. markets were closed for a public holiday.
Energy analysts have attributed oil’s bullish run over recent weeks to signs of tightness in the market and persistent worries of a Russian incursion into Ukraine. The rising threat of a further deterioration in the Middle East’s security climate has provided further support to oil prices, prompting some to forecast a return to triple digits.
Most significant attack on UAE
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place Monday morning and caused fires that resulted in three petroleum tanker explosions near state oil firm ADNOC’s storage facilities. The fires began in the industrial area of Musaffah and at a construction site near Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi police said in a statement, adding that they believe the attack was carried out by drones.
One Pakistani and two Indian nationals died as a result of the attacks. Six other people were injured and are being treated for mild and medium injuries, authorities said Monday.
Attacks by Houthi rebels — with whom the UAE has been at war in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition began bombing the country in 2015 — have been common in Saudi Arabia, but this is the most significant strike by Houthis in the UAE, and is the first in the country since 2018.
The UAE largely withdrew from the Yemen conflict in 2019, but continues to support forces in the country fighting the Houthis, who receive financial and military backing from Iran.
The UAE is the third-largest oil producing member of OPEC, and ADNOC — the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company — controls oil operations in Abu Dhabi, home to the vast majority of the state’s crude. The UAE is the world’s seventh-biggest oil producer, pumping just over 4 million barrels per day.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report