On Monday, Saudi Arabia condemned what it described as a “cowardly terrorist attack” on Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE, noting that the Houthi rebels in Yemen were behind it, knowing that the UAE has not yet determined the causes of the fire and explosion in fuel tankers.
Three people were killed and six others were injured, in an explosion that took place on Monday in three fuel tanks in Abu Dhabi, likely caused by “unmanned aircraft”, according to the Emirati police.
Abu Dhabi Police announced that, on Monday morning, a fire broke out in “three petroleum tanks transporting (..) near the tanks of ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi Oil Company, and a minor fire in the new construction area at Abu Dhabi International Airport.”
At the same time, the Houthi rebels in Yemen said that they would announce the details of a “qualitative military operation” in the UAE “in the coming hours.”
In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned, “in the strongest and harshest terms, the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted Abu Dhabi International Airport in the sisterly United Arab Emirates.”
The Kingdom affirmed its “full stand with the sisterly UAE in the face of all that threatens its security and stability,” noting that “this terrorist act, behind which the forces of evil, the Houthi terrorist militia, reaffirms the danger of this terrorist group and its threat to security, peace and stability in the region and the world.”
The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen and including the UAE announced earlier on Monday that it had “monitored a hostile escalation using Houthi drones,” according to the Saudi Press Agency, noting that “a number of booby-trapped drones were launched from Sanaa International Airport.”
Later, the coalition stated that it had “intercepted and destroyed a total of eight drones that were launched towards the Kingdom,” without referring to any casualties.
A conflict has been raging in Yemen between government forces backed by the coalition since 2015 and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who have controlled large areas in the north and west of the country, as well as the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.