DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Three people were murdered and a fire broke out at Abu Dhabi’s international airport on Monday, authorities said, after a suspected drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a critical oil complex.
The dead have been identified as two Indians and one Pakistani by police in the United Arab Emirates. The injured were claimed to have sustained slight to moderate injuries at an industrial location where Abu Dhabi’s state-owned energy corporation operates a pipeline network and an oil tanker storage facility, according to police.
At the site, three transport tankers caught fire, while another fire broke out at an Abu Dhabi International Airport extension.
Preliminary results revealed that small flying objects, presumably belonging to drones, dropped in the two regions and may have caused the explosion and fire, police said. They stated that the occurrences caused no serious damage but did not provide any other information.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack on the United Arab Emirates on Monday, without providing further details. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have claimed responsibility for multiple strikes that Emirati officials later disputed.
The event occurs as Yemen’s years-long conflict continues, and the Houthis just kidnapped an Emirati-flagged vessel. Despite the fact that the UAE has mostly withdrew its own forces from the conflict that is tearing apart the Arab world’s poorest country, it remains active in Yemen and supports local militias fighting the Houthis.
The UAE has been at war in Yemen since early 2015, and was a key member of the Saudi-led coalition that launched attacks against the Houthis after the group overran the capital of Yemen and ousted the internationally backed government from power.
The Houthis have come under pressure in recent weeks and are suffering heavy losses as Yemeni forces, allied and backed by the UAE, have pushed back the rebels in key southern and central provinces of the country, dashing Houthi efforts to complete their control of the entire northern half of Yemen.
Yemen’s government-aligned forces reclaimed the entire southern province of Shabwa from the Houthis earlier this month and made advances in nearby Marib province. They were aided by the UAE-backed Giants Brigades and had help from Saudi airstrikes.
The airport fire in Abu Dhabi was described by police as “minor” and took place at an extension of the international airport that is still under construction. For years, the airport home to Etihad Airways has been building its new Midfield Terminal, but it was not clear if that was where the fire took place.
Etihad Airways said “precautionary measures resulted in a short disruption for a small number of flights” and that airport operations have returned to normal. Abu Dhabi Airports did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The other blast struck three petroleum transport tankers near a complex for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. in the Musaffah industrial area. The company describes it as a pipeline and terminal facility located some 22 kilometers (13 miles) from the center of the city of Abu Dhabi, where 36 storage tanks also supply transport trucks carrying fuel. It is also a short distance from Al-Dhafra Air Base, a military installation that hosts U.S. and French forces.
The location of the ADNOC facility where the tankers caught fire is approximately 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of Saada, the Houthis’ stronghold in Yemen.
While Emirati troops have been killed in the war in Yemen, the conflict so far has not directly affected daily life in the wider UAE, a country with a vast foreign workforce that is also home to Dubai, a glitzy city of sky scrapers and five-star hotels.
The incident comes as South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in is visiting the UAE. During a meeting with Emirati Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Sunday, the two countries reportedly reached a preliminary deal valued at some $3.5 billion sell mid-range South Korean surface-to-air missiles to the UAE.
At an event attended by the South Korean president earlier in the day, Emirati Energy Minister Suhail Mazrouei declined to comment on the explosion at ADNOC’s facility, saying only that police would provide updates on their investigation.
The Houthis have used bomb-laden drones to launch crude and imprecise attacks aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the course of the six-year-long war. The group has also launched missiles at Saudi airports, oil facilities and pipelines, and used booby-trapped boats for attacks in key shipping routes.
Though there have been civilian deaths in Saudi Arabia from some of these attacks, the overwhelming number of civilian deaths in the conflict have been in Yemen. The war has killed 130,000 people in Yemen — both civilians and fighters — and has exacerbated hunger and famine across the impoverished country.
Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, noted that while the Houthis have claimed responsibility for an attack on the UAE, Iraqi-based militias have also threatened the Emiratis with attacks.
“Today’s attack comes only days after Iran-backed groups threatened to strike against Abu Dhabi in response to alleged Emirati interference in Iraqi politics,” he said.
He said the attack highlights the missile and drone threat faced by the UAE and the region’s other main oil producers. He said unless Gulf Arab states find a solution to diffuse regional tensions “they will remain vulnerable to attacks.”