Three killed in Abu Dhabi drone attack claimed by Houthi rebels

THREE people have been killed in Abu Dhabi after a suspected drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set several fuel tankers on fire at an oil storage facility.

A separate “minor” fire broke out at an extension of Abu Dhabi airport, with the United Arab Emirate’s state news agency attributing both incidents to “small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones”.

A Pakistani and two Indians were killed in the oil facility fire, according to police. Unverified footage on social media showed a thick plume of black smoke billowing from the Musaffah industrial area, where the emirate’s state-owned energy company stores oil.

A spokesman for the Iran-allied Houthis said the group had carried out a “military operation” inside the UAE.

The rebel group has been fighting a Saudi-led coalition including the UAE since 2015, after overrunning Yemen’s capital and ousting the internationally recognised government.

But Abu Dhabi is more than 1,000 miles from the Houthis’ stronghold in Yemen, causing some analysts to cast doubt on their claim of responsibility.

“Although the Yemen-based Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion will also fall on Iraqbased groups which have threatened to carry out attacks against the UAE,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, a risk analyst with Verisk Maplecroft.

The Houthis are reported to receive Iranian military support and have claimed numerous drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, but this was the first time UAE officials acknowledged an incident.

The UAE withdrew most of its own forces from Yemen in 2019, but continues to support local militias fighting the Houthis. The United Nations says the conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian disaster in the Arab world’s poorest nation.

This month the Houthis seized a Uae-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Yemen, saying it was carrying weapons to their adversaries in the civil war.

The rebels have come under renewed pressure in recent weeks as Uaebacked Yemeni forces have forced the Houthis to retreat in key southern and central provinces.

While the UAE has used its vast oil wealth to project military influence across the region, its economy is dependent on maintaining stability at home in order to retain a huge foreign workforce.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have of late struggled to combat the regional influence of Iran, and in the past year have begun striking a more conciliatory tone towards their arch rival.