SANAA: Yemen rebels fired missiles at the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with coalition forces hitting back by blowing up the insurgents’ launchpad as a sharp escalation of hostilities entered a second week on Monday.

Witnesses saw bright flashes arcing over the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi in the early hours of Monday as two ballistic missiles were intercepted, scattering debris.

Nobody was hurt in the attack, which came a week after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed three people in a drone and missile assault on the city, triggering a volley of deadly air strikes on Yemen.

Separately, missiles were fired on Saudi Arabia in regions bordering Yemen, with two people wounded in Jazan, and another missile intercepted over Dhahran al-Janub.

The kingdom’s foreign ministry on Monday condemned the latest attacks, calling on the international community “to put an end to this hostile behaviour”.

The UAE said an F16 fighter jet destroyed a Houthi missile launcher in Al-Jawf in northern Yemen at 4:10am, “immediately after it launched two ballistic missiles at Abu Dhabi”.

Abu Dhabi released a black-and-white video of the attack in Yemen, showing an explosion followed by a large fire that sent up plumes of thick smoke.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash stressed the UAE’s resilience against such attacks, tweeting that the Emirates was “an impenetrable dam against forces of darkness and terrorism”.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also condemned the attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2022