Possible attack in UAE has left three dead, six injured: NPR

A UAE passenger plane is parked at the boarding gate of Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

Kamran Jebrelley/Associated Press

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Kamran Jebrelley/Associated Press

A UAE passenger plane is parked at the boarding gate of Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

Kamran Jebrelley/Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed a drone attack on a key oil facility in Abu Dhabi on Monday, killing three people and setting a fire at Abu Dhabi’s international airport.

UAE police identified the dead as two Indian nationals and a Pakistani. Several people were also injured in industrial areas where Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy company operates a network of pipelines and storage facilities for tankers. Police said they suffered minor to moderate injuries.

Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, blamed the attack on the Houthis and said on Twitter that Emirati authorities were dealing with the rebel group in the UAE capital with “transparency and responsibility”. Malicious attacks on civilian facilities”.

“The intervention of terrorist militias in the security of the region is too weak to affect the stability and security of our lives,” he tweeted.

Three transport tankers caught fire at an oil facility, while another fire started at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Police said an investigation was ongoing and preliminary findings suggested that a small flying object, possibly belonging to a drone, had fallen in the two areas, possibly causing the explosion and fire. The incidents did not cause significant damage, they said, without providing further details.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed they were behind Monday’s attack on the United Arab Emirates, but they gave no details. Although the UAE has largely withdrawn its own troops from the war in Yemen, it remains actively involved in the conflict and supports Yemeni militias fighting the Houthis.

The incident came as the Houthis faced pressure and suffered heavy losses. Yemeni troops allied and backed by the UAE have pushed back rebels in key southern and central provinces, dashing the Houthis’ efforts to complete control of all of northern Yemen.

Earlier this month, Yemeni government-aligned forces recaptured the entire southern Shabwa province from the Houthis and made progress in the nearby Marib province. They were aided by the Emirati-backed Giant Brigade and aided by Saudi airstrikes.

Saudi Arabia condemned Monday’s attack on Abu Dhabi, calling it a “cowardly terrorist attack” that showed the danger posed by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia, along with U.S., U.N. experts and others, have accused Iran of arming the Houthis.

The UAE is a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that has waged war against the Houthis since 2015 in an attempt to restore an internationally-backed government toppled by rebels the previous year.

While Emirati troops have been killed in the course of the conflict, eight years have now passed, but the war has not directly affected daily life in the wider UAE, a country with a large foreign workforce and home to Dubai, a dazzling city city ​​skyscrapers and five star hotels.

The Abu Dhabi airport fire, described by police as “minor”, occurred at the still-under-construction extension of the international airport. The new midfield terminal has been under construction on the Etihad Airways airport site for years, but it is unclear if the fire started there.

Etihad Airways said “precautionary measures have resulted in brief disruptions to a small number of flights” and airport operations have returned to normal. Abu Dhabi Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another explosion hit three oil transport tankers near the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company complex in the Mussafah industrial area. The company describes it as a pipeline and terminal facility about 22 kilometers (13 miles) from central Abu Dhabi, where 36 storage tanks also supply fuel for haul trucks that deliver the fuel.

It is also close to Al-Dhafra Air Base, a military facility housing the US and French troops. US Air Force brig. In a statement to The Associated Press, General Andrew Clark, commander of the U.S. Davra Air Force Base, said “no incident” affected the base during the attack.

“The US military is ready and ready to assist and support their Emirati partners if needed,” he said.

The ADNOC facility where the tanker caught fire is about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of the Houthis’ stronghold in Yemen, Saada.

The incident took place on the occasion of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s visit to the UAE. During a meeting with UAE Prime Minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Sunday, the two countries reportedly reached a tentative deal worth about $3.5 billion to sell to the UAE South Korean medium-range surface-to-air missiles.

At an event attended by the South Korean president earlier in the day, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei declined to comment on the explosion at the ADNOC facility, telling The Associated Press only that police would provide an update on their investigation.

The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones in crude and imprecise attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The group also fired missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and pipelines, and used booby-traps to attack key shipping routes.

Earlier this month, the Houthis seized a UAE-flagged vessel in the Red Sea, a key route for international trade and energy shipments.

While there have been civilian deaths in Saudi Arabia as a result of Houthi attacks, the UAE has previously reported no deaths.

The vast majority of civilian deaths in the conflict occurred in Yemen. The war has killed 130,000 people in Yemen — civilians and fighters alike — and exacerbated hunger and famine in the impoverished country.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, pointed out that while the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack on the UAE, Iraqi militias also threatened the UAE in response to allegations that the UAE interfered in Iraqi politics.

He said the attack highlighted the missile and drone threat facing the UAE and other major oil producers in the region. Unless the Gulf Arab states find a solution to tensions in the wider region, “they will remain vulnerable,” he said.