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The US deployed Patriot missile defenses at “two inbound missiles” at Al Dhafra Air Base, US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in an announcement. That is the primary firing by the US of Patriot missiles since April 2003, in keeping with CENTCOM.
“The mixed efforts efficiently prevented each missiles from impacting the bottom. There have been no U.S. casualties,” CENTCOM stated.
The assault was the second in per week aimed on the UAE, which is a member of the Saudi-led coalition that has been at conflict with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels for years, and marked a major escalation in tensions. The UAE has largely averted the firing line, with Houthis opting as an alternative to strike Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen.
CNN reported earlier that the UAE intercepted two ballistic missiles launched by Houthis early Monday, in what the Iran-backed group warned can be a part of a steady marketing campaign to focus on the Emirati capital.
At 4:15 a.m. Abu Dhabi’s skyline lit up with what witnesses described as “fireballs within the sky.” A number of the capital’s residents woke to the sound of explosions as air protection missiles intercepted the projectiles.
The incident comes per week after a Houthi drone and missile assault close to Abu Dhabi’s airport killed three overseas employees and injured a number of others.
In an announcement Monday, the UAE Ministry of Protection stated, “its air protection has intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the terrorist Houthi group.”
“The assault didn’t end in any casualties, because the remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” the assertion added.
The ministry stated it’s “able to cope with any threats, and that it takes all mandatory measures to guard the state from all assaults.”
A number of flights had been delayed arriving into Abu Dhabi airport, in keeping with the airport’s web site. Flight monitoring web site Flightradar24 confirmed Abu Dhabi-bound planes flying in circles close to the airport.
The US embassy in Abu Dhabi additionally known as on US residents within the UAE to take care of a “excessive stage of safety consciousness,” issuing a collection of directions on how to answer a missile assault.
Shortly after Monday’s incident in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s Ministry of Protection stated an F-16 fighter jet had destroyed the ballistic missile launcher used to focus on the UAE capital. It didn’t specify what nation the plane belonged to.
Yemen’s Houthis claimed they had been concentrating on the UAE’s business hub of Dubai in addition to Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra airbase, which hosts the US Air Power’s 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree on Monday warned that the group would “increase their operations over the following part.”
“We’re calling on overseas corporations and traders to go away the UAE,” Saree stated in a video assertion. “It’s topic to steady concentrating on.”
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly been ranked one of many most secure cities on this planet, with the January 17 strike thought-about “unprecedented” by Emirati officers.
For many years, the UAE staved off turbulence within the crisis-ridden area, attracting hundreds of thousands of expatriates and huge volumes of overseas funding. The nation’s economic system depends closely on a overseas workforce.
An escalation in week-long violence
Yemen’s Houthis had vowed to retaliate for a collection of lethal airstrikes during the last week by the Saudi-led coalition — of which the UAE is a significant accomplice — in northern Yemen which killed scores of individuals. The airstrikes additionally knocked out the web nationwide after hitting a telecommunications tower.
A nation-wide web outage entered its fourth day in Yemen on Monday, in keeping with web watchdog NetBlocks.
The United Nations Safety Council final Friday unanimously condemned the January 17 strike within the UAE capital.
The offensive started in 2015 to revive Yemen’s internationally acknowledged authorities, after it was ousted by the Houthis. The coalition has intensified its assaults within the war-torn nation within the wake of the Houthi missile and drone strike in Abu Dhabi final week.
In 2019, the UAE pulled most of its troops from Yemen, after privately deeming the conflict unwinnable. The marketing campaign did not crush the rebels however exacted an enormous humanitarian toll, with 1000’s of Yemenis lifeless and malnourishment and illness widespread.
Extra lately, the UAE has returned to the battle, backing Yemeni teams in flashpoints just like the oil-rich provinces of Shabwa and Marib.
Correction: A earlier model of this text quoted a US senior protection official who had incorrectly said the final time Patriot missiles had been fired. It was in April 2003.
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