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UAE intercepts ballistic missile targeting country; no casualties reported

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said that there has been no impact on flights or the country’s airports

January 31, 2022

The UAE’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday that its air defence forces had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist group targeting the UAE.

The ministry confirmed in a statement that “there were no casualties resulting from the attack and the fragments of the ballistic missile fell outside of populated areas,” according to state-run news agency WAM.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said shortly thereafter that “air traffic movement is normal and all flights are operating as usual.”

In a statement issued following the thwarted attack, the GCAA said, “There is no impact on flights and airports resulting from the interception of the ballistic missile launched by the Houthi terrorist militia on the country.”

UAE MOD Joint Operations Command announces at 00:50 UAE time the destruction of platform for ballistic missile launched from Al-Jawf, Yemen towards UAE. Missile was intercepted at 00:20 by air defences. Video of successful destruction of missile platform and launch site pic.twitter.com/CY1AoAzfrp

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) January 30, 2022

The GCAA and the MoD both urged the public to refer to official sources for all information and updates.

The missile was intercepted at 12.20am on Monday morning. Within minutes of the incident, the UAE MOD Joint Operations Command said that by 12.50am it had destroyed the platform from which the ballistic missile was launched in Al-Jawf, Yemen.

It tweeted a video of the launch site being destroyed and added, “The UAE air defence forces and the Coalition Command had succeeded in destroying the missile launcher in Yemen after identifying locations of the sites.”

This is the third attack targeting the UAE by the Houthis within the last few weeks.

On January 17, the Houthis attacked the Abu Dhabi International Airport as well as the three petroleum tankers in ICAD 3, Mussafah, near ADNOC’s storage tanks. The incident at the petroleum tanks led to the deaths of one Pakistani and two Indians, while another six people sustained injuries.

Read: Abu Dhabi Police confirms explosion of three petroleum tankers

Meanwhile on January 24, the MoD intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles headed towards the country.