In the fourth such attack, the UAE claims that three 'hostile' drones were intercepted
In the fourth such attack, the UAE claims that three 'hostile' drones were intercepted
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The UAE military claimed six drones were fired towards the country early Thursday, the fourth such attack in recent weeks.

It did not say who or from where the drones were launched, but the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, were suspected. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for a number of drone and missile attacks on the UAE, which have exacerbated Yemen’s seven-year civil war and heightened regional tensions.

The Emirati Defense Ministry said it had destroyed three “hostile drones” that targeted the UAE before daybreak in a brief statement posted on Twitter shortly before midnight Wednesday. The interception took place “away from populated areas,” according to the report, without going into detail.

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Since taking control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2015, the Houthis have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE. Last month, the Houthis fired drones and missiles at Emirati soil for the first time. The past two aerial attacks have been jointly intercepted by US and Emirati forces, including one this week as Israel’s president began a historic visit to the Gulf Arab country.

Three Indian and Pakistani workers were killed and six others were injured in a separate incident in mid-January.

Yemen’s Houthis had no immediate comment on the drone launches on Thursday. However, the rebel group’s media office published a claim from the “True Promise Brigade,” a largely unknown group that claimed to have launched four drones at the UAE in retaliation for its “interference” in the region, without providing evidence to back up its claim.

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The UAE stated that it is “prepared to deal with any threats and is taking all necessary measures to protect the state.”

The escalation has put the UAE’s status as a safe haven for foreign business in a region beset by violence and collapse under peril. In the Emirates, expats outnumber locals by nearly nine to one.