The Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out a large-scale military operation against strategically important targets deep inside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in retaliation for the Persian Gulf country’s increased involvement in the Saudi-led war and all-out siege on their country.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces said at a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Monday that Yemeni troops and their allies conducted the Yemen Storm-3 operation against the UAE, using homegrown ballistic missiles as well as combat drones.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated that the Yemeni forces struck designated sensitive facilities in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi with barrages of Zulfiqar ballistic missiles.
Saree noted that important targets in Dubai were also hit with long-endurance Sammad-3 (Invincible-3) drones.
The senior military official went on to stress that “the UAE will remain unsafe as long as Israeli mercenaries in Abu Dhabi and Dubai continue to launch acts of aggression against our nation and homeland.”
Saree then renewed his call to foreign workers, international companies as well as Emirati nationals to stay away from military and industrial facilities in the UAE, stating that the sites are viewed by the Yemeni Armed Forces as “legitimate targets.”
“We will not stand idly by while our people are suffering from a tight blockade and numerous crimes being perpetrated against them. We will continue to legitimately defend Yemen until the [Saudi-led] aggression and siege stop,” the top Yemeni military official pointed out.
The Yemen Storm-3 operation took place in the midst of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s first visit to the UAE.
The diplomatic trip comes more than a month after Naftali Bennett became the first Israeli prime minister to visit the country, which normalized ties with Israel in September 2020 under the so-called Abraham Accords that were brokered by the United States.
Herzog discussed security and bilateral relations with the UAE’s de facto ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Sunday.
Last week, the Yemeni Armed Forces hit al- Dhafra Air Base, located approximately 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Abu Dhabi, as well as other designated sites with several Zulfiqar ballistic missiles during the Yemen Storm-2 operation.
Saree said at the time that important targets in Dubai were also struck with Sammad-3 drones.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies, backed by the United States and European powers, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces have gradually grown stronger, leaving Riyadh and its allies, most notably the UAE, bogged down in the country.