UAE envoy: Yemen's Houthis used missiles in Abu Dhabi attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels used cruise and ballistic missiles, in addition to drones, in an attack on Abu Dhabi this week that killed three people and set off fires at a fuel depot and an international airport, the Emirati ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.

The remarks by Ambassador Yousef Al-Otaiba marked an official acknowledgement that missiles — and not just drones — were used in Monday's attack, claimed by the Iran-backed Houthis.

“Several attacks — a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones — targeted civilian sites” in the United Arab Emirates, Al-Otaiba said.

“Several were intercepted, a few of them didn’t and three innocent civilians unfortunately lost their lives," he added in remarks at a virtual event hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America. The event was held to discuss U.S. policies and Israeli relations with the UAE and Bahrain.

Al-Otaiba did not respond to further questions from The Associated Press about how many missiles targeted the UAE and how many were intercepted.

Gulf Arab states, as well as the U.S., U.N. experts and others have previously accused Iran of supplying arms to the Houthis, a charge that Tehran denies.

The missiles and drones with bombs attached — if they were fired from the Houthis' stronghold in northern Yemen — would have needed to travel some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) to reach targets in Abu Dhabi.

Monday's attack targeted an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in an industrial zone outside the city center of the Emirati capital, as well as an area of Abu Dhabi International Airport still under construction.

The attack killed two Indian nationals and one Pakistani. Six people also were wounded at the oil and gas facility when a fire...