Yemen’s Information Minister, Daifullah al-Shami, said on 18 January that the recent drone operation on Emirati soil is a “legitimate and legal retaliation,” warning UAE officials that the entire country is within range of the Yemeni army.
“The attack by the Yemeni armed forces against the UAE was part of a legal and legitimate response that was carried out in retaliation to the escalation of war by the UAE and its continuous military actions against the people of Yemen,” Al-Shami told Tasnim News Agency.
The official representing Yemen’s National Salvation Government (NSG) also underlined that “the equations have changed,” adding that the most important message from the operation was to let the UAE know that its entire territory is “within range and reach of the Yemeni military.”
The Ansarallah drone strikes hit targets in the military section of the Abu Dhabi’s airport, as well as an industrial site, killing three and wounding six others.
In addition, one of the attacks caused a fire to break out near the storage sites of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the Mussaffah industrial zone, causing petroleum tankers to explode.
Following the airstrikes in the heart of the UAE, US officials came out strong to condemn the Yemeni army’s actions.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call with his Emirati counterpart, condemned the attack, while White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington would “work to hold the [Ansarallah movement] accountable.”
In retaliation to the airstrikes in Abu Dhabi, late on 18 January the Saudi-led coalition launched a vicious bombing campaign across Yemen, hitting several residential areas and killing at least 23 civilians, most of them women and children.
According to local media reports, coalition planes bombed five residential buildings in the Libby neighborhood in the capital Sanaa, killing several civilians and injuring dozens of others.
