UAE cooperated closely with US to repel second Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi: Ambassador
The UAE cooperated closely with the US to thwart the second Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi within a week, Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef Al-Otaiba said on Monday.
“Close UAE-US cooperation helped to repel another round of Houthi terror attacks this morning in the UAE,” the ambassador said on Twitter.
The UAE intercepted early Monday a missile attack launched by the Houthis targeting Abu Dhabi, the second such attack within a week.
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The Ministry of Defense said it intercepted and destroyed the two Houthi ballistic missiles with no casualties.
US Central Command said: “US forces at Al Dhafra Air Base, near Abu Dhabi in the UAE engaged two inbound missile threats with multiple Patriot interceptors coincident to efforts by the armed forces of the UAE.”
Spokesman Captain Bill Urban said the missiles didn’t impact the US base and there were no casualties. He added that US forces “set a heightened alert posture at the time of the attack, the second in the span of a week, which did involve Airmen using available bunkers.”
“US forces at Al Dhafra remain vigilant and ready to respond in case of any follow-on attacks.”
Monday's attack comes a week after the Houthis used cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as drones, in an attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three people and injured six others.
The Emirati ambassador renewed the UAE’s calls for the US to redesignate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist organization.
Otaiba added: “Next step is to shut off financial and arms flows from their backers. US should move now to put the Houthis back on the terrorist list.”
President Joe Biden’s administration revoked a terrorist designation of the Houthis introduced by former President Donald Trump in January of last year. Biden also announced in ending US support for the offensive operations of the Arab Coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, which intervened in Yemen in 2015.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE maintained over the course of the past year that they will continue to treat the Houthis as a terrorist organization regardless of whether the US decided to designate the group as such.
Read more:
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Houthis attacked UAE in retaliation for Arab Coalition gains in Yemen: Analysts