- No casualties reported in the UAE as a result of the Houthi rebels’ attack in Yemen.
- The UAE Ministry of Defense says it destroyed the Houthi rocket launcher in Yemen.
- The Yemeni Houthi group says it will release a statement “in the coming hours” about an operation in the UAE.
Dubai: The UAE said Monday it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels toward the Gulf country without casualties, the third incident this month.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the United Arab Emirates’ air defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired at land by Houthi rebels.
It added that the debris fell in an uninhabited area and there were no casualties.
The Defense Ministry also said it destroyed the Houthi rocket launcher in Yemen, without specifying its location.
The Emirates affirms its “full readiness to deal with all threats” and will “take all necessary measures to protect the UAE against any attacks,” it added.
Monday’s incident marks the third attack on the Emirates this month, with three foreign workers killed in the first attack on January 17 and the second intercepted a week later.
It also coincides with Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s first official visit to the UAE after the two countries normalized relations in 2020.
However, a statement from his office on Monday said he will “continue his visit as planned”.
UAE authorities said the incident had no impact on air traffic, while flight operations continued as normal.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have not yet commented on Monday’s attack, but said they will release a statement “in the coming hours” about an operation in the UAE.
The Houthi attacks are a response to a series of rebel defeats on the ground in Yemen inflicted by a UAE-trained militia.
The UAE is part of a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government against the Iranian-backed Houthis.
In 2019, the UAE withdrew its troops from Yemen, but remains an influential player.
An Emirati official said on Thursday that Houthi attacks would not become a “new normal” for the UAE, promising a robust defense.
“This is not going to be the new normal for the UAE,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“We refuse to acquiesce to the threat of Houthi terror targeting our people and our way of life,” the official added.
The rebels have warned of further attacks on the UAE, which houses US troops and is one of the world’s largest arms buyers.
“The UAE has world-class defense capabilities and is constantly trying to update them,” the official said, adding that the Houthi rebels “should” be classified as a terrorist organization.
Yemen’s civil war started in 2014 when the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi Arabia-led forces to intervene the following year to support the government.
The conflict has directly or indirectly killed hundreds of thousands of people and pushed millions to the brink of starvation, according to the UN, calling it the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
