United Arab Emirates And Saudi Arabia Claim To Have Intercepted Two Ballistic Missiles Of The Houthi Group
Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/paffairs_sanfrancisco)

JAKARTA - Two ballistic missiles aimed at Abu Dhabi were shot down in the early hours of Monday, the Defense Ministry said.

Authorities confirmed, "the attack resulted in no casualties, as remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas around the emirate."

"The weapon was launched by the Houthi terrorist group," the ministry said, citing The National News from the WAM State News Agency on January 24.

Meanwhile, local civilian eyewitnesses said flashes were seen in the sky over the capital at around 4.15 a.m.

The ministry said it was "ready to face any threat and take all necessary measures to protect the country from attacks".

In Abu Dhabi on Monday, students returned to school as planned after several weeks of distance learning and busy sightseeing.

Meanwhile, flights at the airport took off as usual on a busy Monday morning. Social media claims that the airport was closed seem completely false.

No flights were planned between 03:45 a.m. and 05:10a.m., with 17 flights taking off between then and 9 a.m. as scheduled, the airport's live broadcast board showed.

Separately in Saudi Arabia, the Coalition said it had destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the Dhahran Al Janub city on Monday morning.

Shrapnel from the intercepted missile landed in the city's industrial zone and images of the burning vehicle were published by local media.

The attack came just hours after a group of Arab League countries met in Cairo to call for the United States to designate the Houthis as a terrorist group.

For more than six years, the Houthis have been battling a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE, repeatedly carrying out cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, and launching unprecedented attacks on the UAE on January 17, citing Reuters.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah Television said the group would announce within hours the details of its "widespread military operation" against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The US government said it was considering the move after an explosion in the UAE on Monday, January 17, killed three oil company workers and injured six, in an attack condemned by world leaders.

The United Nations, which along with the United States has struggled to draft a ceasefire for Yemen, has voiced concern over the escalation and called for maximum restraint by both sides.

The Saudi-led coalition has stepped up airstrikes on what it describes as Houthi targets in Yemen.

At least 60 people died in an attack on a temporary detention center in northern Saada province on Friday, and about 20 people died in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa in an operation on Tuesday.


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