Yemen rebels fire missiles at UAE, Saudi as tensions soar
SANAA: Yemen rebels fired missiles at the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with coalition forces hitting back by blowing up the insurgents’ launchpad as a sharp escalation of hostilities entered a second week on Monday.
Witnesses saw bright flashes arcing over the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Monday morning as two ballistic missiles were intercepted, scattering debris.
Nobody was hurt in the attack, which came a week after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed three people in a drone and missile assault on the city, triggering a volley of deadly airstrikes on Yemen.
Separately, missiles were fired on Saudi Arabia in southern regions bordering Yemen, with two people wounded in Jazan, and another missile intercepted over Dhahran al-Janub.
The UAE said an F-16 fighter jet destroyed a Houthi missile launcher in Al-Jawf in northern Yemen at 4.10am local time, “immediately after it launched two ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi”.
It released a black-and-white video of the attack, showing an explosion followed by a large fire that sent up plumes of thick smoke.
The UAE, part of the Saudiled coalition fighting the Houthis, is “ready to deal with any threats” and was “taking all necessary measures to protect the state from all attacks”, the defence ministry said.
The seven-year conflict, which has killed more than 150,000 and displaced millions, according to the United Nations, entered a dangerous new phase over the past week.
Coalition airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hodeida left at least 17 dead and knocked out the struggling country’s internet.
At least 70 were also killed and hundreds injured in an attack on a prison, although the coalition denied responsibility.
After Monday’s attack, the rebels threatened to ramp up their targeting of UAE, and repeated their warning for foreign companies to leave the oil, business, transport and tourism hub.
“We are ready to expand the operation during the next phase and confront escalation with escalation,” rebel military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised statement.