UAE intercepts missile in new Houthi attack: Update

Adds comments from Houthi military spokesman.

The UAE's ministry of defence said it has intercepted and destroyed another ballistic missile launched towards the country, the third attack on the Mideast Gulf oil producer in two weeks.

The missile was launched by the Houthi militia group and intercepted by the country's air defence system at 00.20 local time today (20:20 GMT on 30 January), the defence ministry said. The attack "did not result in any losses" as the remnants of the missile fell "outside of populated areas", it said. The ministry subsequently released a video on Twitter showing the destruction of the platform that launched the missile from the northern Yemeni province of al-Jawf, which borders Saudi Arabia, at 00:50 local time. "The UAE air defence forces and the coalition command succeeded in destroying the missile launcher in Yemen after identifying locations of the sites," it said.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed in a statement issued at midday local time that the attack had "hit very sensitive facilities" in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai and had involved both ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, more commonly known as drones. Saree warned that the Houthi military would continue to target the UAE as long as "Israel's presence is there in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and it continues to launch aggressions against our people".

Israeli president Isaac Herzog arrived in the UAE for a two-day state visit yesterday, the first such visit by an Israeli president since the two countries normalised relations with the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.

Today's incident comes exactly a week after the Houthis launched a similar ballistic missile attack against the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on 24 January, and two weeks after the group fired five missiles and several drones towards the UAE on 17 January. The 24 January attack was intercepted by the UAE's air defence systems, but the 17 January attack resulted in a fire at an Abu Dhabi oil storage centre operated by state-owned Adnoc, killing three employees and injuring six.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said at 02.48 local time that there had been "no impact on flights and airports resulting from the interception of the ballistic missile".

The US has been quick to issue a response. "We condemn the latest Houthi missile attack on Abu Dhabi," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. "While Israel's president is visiting the UAE to build bridges and promote stability across the region, the Houthis continue to launch attacks that threaten civilians."

This latest attack on the UAE, Opec's third largest oil producer, is adding to geopolitical tensions that have contributed to rising oil prices following civil unrest in Kazakhstan and as Russia and the US continue to fall out over Ukraine.

By Nader Itayim