Who Are Yemeni Houthi? And Why Did They Attack The United Arab Emirates (UAE)? Explained. Three people dead and six people injured were reported after the Yemeni Houthi attack UAE on Monday. The attacks happened in Abu Dhabi and later the attacks, the Yemeni Houthi claimed responsibility for the two attacks.
The UAE police identified the three dead are two Indian nationals and a Pakistani national. One of the attacks happened in three petroleum storage tankers at a site owned by Abu Dhabi National, Co where the storage tankers were caught fire after being struck by one of the blasts of Yemeni Houthi’s drone attacks.
The other attack was in Abu Dhabi International Report, though the attack on the airport didn’t cause any casualties and UAE police described it as a minor attack.
Who Are Yemeni Houthi? Everything You Need About The Yemeni Houthi- UAE Conflict
The Yemen Houthi are a large clan that originated from the northwestern Province of Yemen, called Saada Province. The Houthis are a Zaidi tribal political movement led by Hussein Badreddin Al-Houthi.
Yemeni Houthis are a believer in the Ziadi Shia school of thought and follows religious practices and rules that are different from typical Shias. The Houthis were originated in the early 1960s of Yemen and were only a small tribal group that adhered to the Ziadi beliefs. Now Yemeni Houthi is a large group that includes Ziadi believers and Sunni believers from all parts of Yemen.
The Houthi rose predominantly in the year 1990 and has been predominantly fighting the central government of Yemen since 2004 followed by the Arab Spring. In 2012, the Houthis had reported being taken control of major governorates of Yemen including Saada and Hajj, and also had access to the Red Sea.
By 2014, Houthis were in control of the major parts of Yemen including the capital of the country, and took control over many government buildings too. Followed by the invasion of Yemeni Houthis in 2014, the group formally took control of Yemen’s Government and demolished the parliament of the country by establishing the Revolutionary Committee as Yemen’s official authority. Currently, the Yemeni Houthis have full control over the Northern parts of Yemen and the southern part is under foreign protection.
Why Did They Attack UAE?
The conflict between Yemeni Houthi and prominent Sunni following Arab states started in 2015 as the group was taking control of the central authority of Yemen.
After the rise of Yemeni Houthi in 2015 that was believed to be backed by the Shia Power military of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and eight other Arab states launched an air campaign attack on Yemeni Houthis which resulted in the defeat of the clan and removal of Iranian influence on Yemen.
After the war, the Saudi war officials gained the power of the southern parts of Yemen but were not been able to remove Houthi power from the north-west. Followed by the coalition between the Saudi and other Arab states with Houthi, Houthi’s have launched many drones and missile attacks on Saudi, mainly targeting civilian infrastructure.
The Yemeni Houthis have been targeting the majority of their attacks on Saudi only until the attack happened in UAE. This was the first attack of the Yemeni Houthis on the UAE.
UAE was part of the militants that have gained control over Southern Yemen after the coalition with Houthis in 2015 and has withdrawn their militants from Yemen in 2019. The UAE also has a great influence on Yemeni forces as the Abu Dhabi forces trained the Yemeni forces to fight and combat with Houthis.
The Attack
The attack of Yemeni Houthi began on Monday where three are reported dead and six are injured. The UAE police have reported that the injured ones are suffering from mild and minor injuries only.
Abu Dhabi authorities are investigating more on the attack and have presumed that the attack was carried out by drones. The Abu Dhabi police statement said, “preliminary investigations suggest that the cause of the fires are small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in two areas.
Teams from the competent authorities have been dispatched and the fire is currently being put out”. Followed by the attack, the United States has said that it is sending fighter jets to assists UAE and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talked with Abu Dhabi Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the matter.
