President Moon Jae-in visits Sheikh Khalifa Specialty Hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 17th (local time) and talks with Sheikh Saud bin Sakr al-Qasimi, the ruler of the Ras al-Khaima region. This hospital has been entrusted by Seoul National University Hospital since 2014, and it is the first case in which Korea has commissioned a large foreign tertiary medical institution. yunhap news
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where President Moon Jae-in is visiting, an international airport and oil facilities were attacked by Yemeni rebels by drones on the 17th (local time). President Moon is digesting his local schedule at a place regarding 100km away from here. UAE ally Saudi Arabia launched an airstrike on Yemeni rebels on the same day.
The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported on the same day that there were explosions and fires at Abu Dhabi International Airport and Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation. Abu Dhabi Police said the fire broke out at three facilities in the industrial area of Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation located in Musafa, regarding 22 kilometers from downtown Abu Dhabi, and at a new construction site in Abu Dhabi International Airport. Yemen’s rebel Houthis admitted the attack on the day and said it might launch further attacks. As a result, two Indians and one Pakistani working at the oil facility were killed and six others were injured. No injuries were reported in the explosion at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
The incident occurred during President Moon’s visit to the UAE. President Moon held a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of ‘Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week’ in Dubai, which is regarding 100km away from Abu Dhabi International Airport on the same day.
Yemeni rebel spokeswoman Ahya Sarea, who claimed to have carried out the attack, wrote on Twitter that “they have begun military operations deep in the UAE.” “We have hit sensitive targets in the UAE using five ballistic missiles and multiple drones,” said Sarea. More facilities might be targeted in the future.”
Yemeni rebels have said the UAE is intervening in the Yemeni civil war and will attack the UAE mainland if it continues to intervene. The UAE joined the Arab allies led by Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni civil war. The civil war in Yemen has escalated into a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which began in 2014. The UAE has been reducing its troop size since 2019. However, the conflict between the two sides has increased following the recent incident where Yemeni rebels seized a UAE vessel.
Yemeni rebels have often attacked major airports and oil refineries in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, but direct attacks on the UAE mainland are rare. On the same day, AFP news agency reported that Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces launched an airstrike on Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, where Yemeni rebels are located. It is not known how many casualties occurred. Tensions in the Middle East are rising as the UAE’s mainland, which is the economic center of the Middle East and safer than its neighbors, is attacked and Saudi Arabia immediately counterattacks.
“The civil war in Yemen has intensified in the past year,” said Pawaz Gerges, a professor of Middle East politics at the London School of Economics. . As of the end of last year, the United Nations estimated that 377,000 people had died either directly or indirectly from the civil war in Yemen.
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