Drone attack in Abu Dhabi kills 3, injures others
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A drone attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeting a key oil facility in Abu Dhabi killed three people Monday and sparked a fire at the city’s international airport.
Emirati police identified the dead as two Indian nationals and one Pakistani. Several people were also wounded at an industrial area where Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy company runs a pipeline network and an oil tanker storage facility. The police said they suffered minor to moderate injuries.
Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash blamed the Houthis for the attack, saying on Twitter that authorities were handling the rebel group’s “vicious attack on some civilian facilities” in the nation’s capital with “transparency and responsibility.”
“The tampering of the region’s security by terrorist militias is too weak to affect the stability and safety in which we live,” he tweeted.
Three transport tankers caught fire at the oil facility, while another fire was sparked at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Police said that an investigation was underway and that preliminary findings indicate there were small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas and may have caused the explosion and fire. They said there was no significant damage from the incidents, without offering further details.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed they were behind an attack targeting the United Arab Emirates on Monday, but they did not offer details. Although the Emirates has largely withdrawn its own forces from the war in Yemen, it is still actively engaged in the conflict and supports Yemeni militias fighting the Houthis.
The incident comes as the Houthis face pressure and are suffering heavy losses. Yemeni forces, allied and backed by the Emirates, have pushed back the rebels in key southern and central provinces, dashing Houthi efforts to complete their control of the entire northern half of Yemen.
Yemen’s governmentaligned forces reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis this month and made advances in nearby Marib province. They were aided by the Emirates-backed Giants Brigades and had help from Saudi airstrikes.
Saudi Arabia condemned Monday’s attack targeting Abu Dhabi, describing it as “a cowardly terrorist attack” that shows the dangers posed by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States, United Nations experts and others have accused Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis.
The Emirates is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that has waged war against the Houthis since 2015, trying to restore the internationally backed government ousted by the rebels the previous year.
Although Emirati troops have been killed over the course of the conflict, now nearing its eighth year, the war has not directly affected daily life in the wider Emirates, a country with a vast foreign workforce that is also home to Dubai, a glitzy city of skyscrapers and fivestar hotels.
The airport fire in Abu Dhabi was described by police as “minor” and took place at an extension of the international airport that is still under construction. For years, the airport home to Etihad Airways has been building its new Midfield Terminal, but it was unclear whether that was where the fire took place.
Etihad Airways said that “precautionary measures resulted in a short disruption for a small number of flights” and that airport operations have returned to normal. Abu Dhabi Airports did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The other blast struck three petroleum transport tankers near a complex for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. in the Musaffah industrial area. The company describes it as a pipeline and terminal facility about 13.5 miles from the center of the city of Abu Dhabi, where 36 storage tanks also supply transport trucks carrying fuel.
It is also a short distance from Al Dhafra Air Base, a military installation that hosts U.S. and French forces. U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Clark, the commander for American forces at the base, said in a statement that “no incidents” affected the base amid the attack.
“U.S. forces are ready and available to assist and support their Emirati partners if requested,” he said.
The state oil company facility where the tankers caught fire is about 1,100 miles northeast of Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold in Yemen.
The incident comes as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is visiting the Emirates. South Korea reportedly agreed to sell about $3.5 billion in midrange surface-to-air missiles to the Emirates.