Three people were killed, and six others were injured after several oil tankers exploded at Abu Dhabi Airport in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM).
The UAE’s authorities disclosed that two of the dead were Indians and the third was Pakistani.
In the meantime, the Iran-backed Ansar Allah movement in Yemen known as the ‘Houthis’ announced that they launched a military operation deep inside the UAE.
Also on Monday, Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry called his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to express Cairo’s support for Abu Dhabi during this crisis.
Shoukry affirmed that Egypt is following up on the Houthi’s claims regarding the implementation of a qualitative operation against the UAE.
He stressed Egypt’s condemnation of any terrorist act committed by the terrorist organisation to target the security, stability, and safety of the UAE and its citizens.
According to WAM, Abu Dhabi Police confirmed that “a fire broke out this morning, which led to three petroleum tanks in the Musaffah Icad three area exploding near ADNOC’s tanks. A minor fire also broke out in the new construction area at Abu Dhabi International Airport.”
Quoting the police, WAM pointed out that the preliminary investigations referenced the detection of small unidentified flying objects possibly belonging to an unmanned drone that may have been the cause of the explosion and fire.
Meanwhile, Houthi Military Spokesman Yahya Saree said that the movement will reveal within hours the details of a military operation against the UAE.
Moreover, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said that it had monitored and followed a hostile escalation using drones by the Houthis, noting that several drones were launched from Sanaa International Airport. It also announced the destruction of three drones that were launched towards the southern region of Saudi Arabia.
Yemen has witnessed significant political turmoil since March 2015, when the Iran-backed Houthi movement declared a coup in September 2014 against the internationally supported government.
Since then, Saudi Arabia announced the formation of the Coalition for Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Pakistan, Djibouti, Sudan, Senegal, Kuwait, and Egypt.
