A drone attack killed 3 and 6 wounded in Abu Dhabi Int. Airport on Monday by an explosion that struck 3 oil tankers.
In the drone attack, Abu Dhabi police identified the dead as two Indian nationals and one Pakistani. UAE authorities have informed that there were two Indians among the three dead in a possible drone attack which may have sparked an explosion that struck three oil tankers in Abu Dhabi and another fire at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport on Monday that killed three people and wounded six, police said.
Abu Dhabi police identified the dead as two Indian nationals and one Pakistani but did not identify the wounded, who police said suffered minor or moderate wounds.
While Abu Dhabi police did not immediately offer any suspects for the possible assault, Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack targeting the United Arab Emirates, without elaborating. The Iranian-backed Houthis have claimed several attacks that Emirati officials later denied took place.
However, it is believed that the two Indians and one Pakistani have been killed by the Yemeni Houthi rebels supported by Iran’s drone attack on UAE’s Abu Dhabi!
Of note, for weeks now, Tigray has been blaming UAE for its drones being used by the Ethiopian regime to bomb civilians.
UAEs War With Yemen
The attack comes while Yemen’s yearslong war rages on and as an Emirati-flagged vessel found itself recently captured by the Houthis. That’s as Abu Dhabi largely has removed its national forces from the conflict tearing apart the Arab world’s poorest nation while still supporting local militias there.
Abu Dhabi police said preliminary investigations indicated the detection of 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.
Although the UAE has reduced the number of troops it has on the ground, it continues to be actively engaged in the war and supports key militias fighting the Houthis. It also cooperates closely with the United States in counter-terrorism operations in Yemen.
The Houthis have come under pressure in recent weeks and are suffering heavy losses as Yemeni forces, allied and backed by the UAE, have pushed back the rebel group in key southern and central provinces of the country.
Yemen’s government-aligned forces, aided by the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and with help from Saudi airstrikes, reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis earlier this month and made advances in nearby Marib province.
The incident comes as South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in visits the UAE. During the president’s meeting with Emirati Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Sunday, the two countries reportedly reached a preliminary deal valued at some $3.5 billion to sell mid-range South Korean surface-to-air missiles to the UAE.
The Houthis have claimed previous attacks on Abu Dhabi’s airport, as well as the emirate’s Barakah nuclear power plant – claims that Emirati officials have denied in the past.
The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones to launch crude and imprecise attacks aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the course of the war. The group has also launched missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities, and pipelines, as well as used booby-trapped boats for attacks in key shipping routes.
Though there have been civilian deaths in Saudi Arabia from some of these attacks, the overwhelming number of civilian deaths have been in Yemen. The war has killed 130,000 people in Yemen – both civilians and fighters – and has exacerbated hunger and famine across the destitute country.