UAE forces destroy Houthi launch site that targeted Abu Dhabi: Defense ministry

United Arab Emirates forces have destroyed the launch site from which the Iran-backed Houthi militia fired two blocked missiles toward Abu Dhabi early Monday morning, according to the UAE Ministry of Defense.

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An F-16 fighter jet struck the location in al-Jawf, in northern Yemen, at 4:10 a.m.

The two missiles were intercepted over the UAE capital Abu Dhabi and there were no reported casualties or injuries, the defense ministry revealed in an earlier statement.

The attempted attack came one week after Iran-backed Houthis targeted Abu Dhabi with two drones, causing three fatalities.

One Pakistani and two Indian nationals were killed, and six others were injured - ranging from light to medium - when the incident took place at 10 a.m. on Monday January 17, according to WAM and ADNOC.

It was a rare instance of attacks on UAE soil, often seen as a safe haven in a turbulent region.

The UAE intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 as part of the Arab Coalition with Saudi Arabia.

It scaled down its operations in 2019. The coalition made significant advances in early January, taking the Shabwa and Ain districts.

A UAE cargo ship, the Rwabee, was hijacked by Houthi forces on the night of January 1.

The vessel was on its way from Socotra Island in Yemen to the port of Jazan in Saudi Arabia, carrying equipment leased by a Saudi company used in a field hospital on the island, according to the Arab Coalition.

The Houthis claimed that the vessel was carrying military equipment.

Onboard were seven Indian sailors, an Ethiopian, and Indonesian, a Filipino, and a sailor from Myanmar.

Read more:

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