Suspected drone attack in Abu Dhabi causes fire, kills three

At least three people have been killed and six others wounded when three oil tankers exploded in Abu Dhabi in a suspected drone attack, according to Emirati authorities, as Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced an operation “deep” in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi police said on Monday three fuel tanker trucks had exploded in the industrial Musaffah area, near storage facilities of oil firm ADNOC, and that a fire had also broken out at a construction site at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Meanwhile, the military spokesman of the Houthis, who are battling a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and including the UAE, said the group had launched a military operation “deep in the UAE”. More details would be announced in the coming hours, the spokesman added.

The UAE had largely scaled down its military presence in Yemen in 2019 but continues to hold sway through Yemeni forces it armed and trained.

The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones to launch crude and imprecise attacks at Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The group has also launched missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and pipelines, as well as used booby-trapped boats for attacks on key shipping routes.

Yemen’s government-aligned forces, aided by the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and with help from Saudi air raids, reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis earlier this month and made advances in nearby Marib province.