UAE denies Houthi rebels attacked Dubai airport with armed drone

Dubai airport operating ‘business as usual’, says UAE after Houthis claimed to have disrupted air traffic at world’s third busiest flight hub

The UAE denied that Dubai airport was targeted by Houthi drones (EPA)

The United Arab Emirates has denied reports that the Shia Houthi rebel group in Yemen attacked Dubai International airport with drones.

The Iran-backed rebels claimed on Monday that a “Samad-3 drone” had hit the world’s third busiest airport, successfully disrupting air traffic “for some time”.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority vehemently denied the accusations in a statement to official news agency WAM “affirming UAE air traffic operates business as usual”.

Several passengers at Dubai airport also denied the disruption shortly after the news broke, sharing videos on Twitter from within the terminal buildings.

Dubai’s airport is the third busiest in the world, according to the Airports Council International, which said that 88 million passengers passed through its terminals in 2017.

The UAE is part of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition that has been fighting to oust the Houthi rebels and reinstate Yemen’s recognised government since 2015.

The Gulf alliance launched a bombing campaign and ground invasion three years ago, fearing Iranian expansionism on their doorstep after the Houthis swept control of most of the country.

A spokesperson for the Houthi military forces, which controls Yemen’s capital Sanaa, told the Houthi-controlled Saba news network on Monday that the drone strike was in response to what it called Gulf coalition “crimes”.

“After the bombing of Dubai airport with a [Samad-3], all the strategic areas of the UAE are in the range of air force fire,” the spokesperson added.

The Houthis previously claimed in July to have targeted Abu Dhabi airport with a similar drone. The UAE also denied those accusations.

However, the Gulf coalition has become increasingly concerned by the capabilities of the rebel group that has successfully hit several targets within bordering Saudi Arabia.

In March, one Egyptian migrant worker was killed when the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Riyadh, over 540 miles away from northern Yemen.

Last week the rebels claimed to have fired two Zelzal-1 Iranian-made missiles at a gathering of Saudi soldiers in neighbouring Jizan and Najran. The Saudi authorities did not comment on the claim.

The three-year conflict in Yemen has devastated the country and sparked the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers, according to the United Nations.

Over 22 million people, or three-quarters of the population, now rely on humanitarian aid to survive. At least 8 million people, including hundreds of thousands of children, are starving.

The Saudi-led coalition has faced heavy criticism for a high civilian death toll in its air strikes and for a crippling air, sea and land blockade on much of country, which it says is essential to stop the flow of weapons to the Houthis.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have been accused of laying siege to pro-government areas, halting the delivery of aid and indiscriminate shelling.

There is little hope for peace talks, hosted by the United Nations, which are expected to take place at the start of September in Geneva.