US TO SEND WARSHIP, FIGHTER JETS TO UAE AFTER YEMEN’S HOUTHI ATTACKS

The USS Cole guided missile destroyer will make a port call in Abu Dhabi Handout Navy Office of Information.

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Wed 02 February 2022:

Following a spate of missile attacks by Yemeni rebels, the US will deploy a guided missile destroyer and cutting-edge fighter jets to help defend the United Arab Emirates, according to a US statement released Wednesday.

According to the US embassy in the UAE, the deployment is to “assist the UAE against the current threat” and follows a phone contact between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

The UAE, part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, suffered its third missile attack in consecutive weeks on Monday.

According to the statement, the guided missile destroyer USS Cole will work with the UAE Navy and make a port call in Abu Dhabi, while the US will also deploy fifth-generation fighter planes.

Three foreign workers were killed in a drone-and-missile assault targeting Abu Dhabi’s oil facilities and airport on January 17, triggering a salvo of deadly air strikes in retaliation.

On January 24, US forces stationed at Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra air base fire Patriot interceptors and scrambled to bunkers as two ballistic missiles were shot down over the city.

And on Monday, a third missile attack was thwarted during the visit to the UAE of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The US, a supporter of the Saudi-led coalition, intends the deployment to be “a clear signal that the United States stands with the UAE as a long-standing strategic partner”, the statement said.

The Houthis began attacking UAE interests after a series of defeats on the ground in Yemen, inflicted by the UAE-trained Giants Brigades militia.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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