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The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi insurgents said Monday it had launched air strikes targeting the rebel-held capital Sanaa following a deadly attack against Abu Dhabi that killed three and was claimed by the rebels.
“In response to the threat and (out of) military necessity, air strikes have begun in Sanaa,” the official Saudi Press Agency said on Twitter, few hours after hours after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) vowed reprisals.
The Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV channel confirmed the raids by the coalition, without immediately reporting any casualties.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led military coalition that supports Yemen’s government against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia with cross border strikes.
But Monday’s attack by the Houthis was the first deadly assault on Emirati soil acknowledged by the UAE and claimed by the rebels, who said they had fired ballistic missiles and deployed armed drones.
Two Indians and a Pakistani working for oil giant ADNOC died as three petrol tanks exploded near a storage facility, while a fire also ignited in a construction area at Abu Dhabi airport in the heart of the UAE, a renowned safe haven in the volatile Middle East.
Police said “small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones” were found at both sites. Drone attacks have been a hallmark of the rebels’ assaults on neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
“We condemn the Houthi terrorist militia’s targeting of civilian areas and facilities on UAE soil today… this sinful targeting will not go unpunished,” UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said in a statement, as his ministry described the attack as a “heinous criminal escalation”.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said that they had “carried out… a successful military operation” against “important and sensitive Emirati sites…
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Source : france24
