The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Monday that it had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the latest escalation in its years-old conflict with the Saudi-led coalition. This comes after a week after an assault last week by the rebels killed three people - including two Indians- in Abu Dhabi.
The Houthis, who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition that includes the UAE, have stated that they intend to make Abu Dhabi pay a severe price for supporting groups that are preventing them from capturing lucrative oil regions. The Houthis have targeted Saudi Arabia with missiles and drone attacks several times over the last few years. The group launched an unprecedented attack on the UAE on January 17.
Who are the Houthis?
It started as a movement in the 1990s and was founded by Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Shia majority. The group came to be called after its leader even after his assassination by Yemeni soldiers in 2004. The Houthis kept struggling for power against those ruling Yemen. In 2014, they overthrew Yemen's president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and captured much of northern Yemen. This region is still under their control.
Why are the Houthis after Saudi Arabia?
As Houthis rose to become a powerful rebel group, Saudi Arabia joined hands with the US, the UK, and France to fight against them. The coalition launched an attack against the Houthis, which has today escalated in Yemen and has become one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
The coalition troops were able to conquer southern parts of Yemen from the Houthis but the northern parts still remain under the rebel group. Currently, the two sides are in a war to capture the Marib province. This region is the government's stronghold in the northern part of Yemen. It also houses oil and gas infrastructure.
Why is the UAE a target?
The Houthis hope to persuade the UAE to abandon its support for militias loyal to Yemen's government. These militias have recently achieved some battlefield success in Yemen, driving the Houthis out of critical areas in the south and intensifying conflict in the oil-rich Marib governorate in the north, which is a significant stronghold for the Yemeni government.
Since 2015, the UAE has been a part of the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis. Still, it never bore much of the brunt of the Houthis attack, until now. In 2019, the UAE had announced that it was slowly withdrawing from Yemen. But recent weeks saw fresh attacks from the UAE-backed brigades.
The combat has intensified since December 25, when the Saudi-led coalition launched an attack on Sanaa, Yemen's capital, after Houthi missiles killed two people in the country - the first such killings in three years.
Pro-government forces in Yemen have declared one of their most major successes in the seven-year conflict after driving the Houthis out of the oil-rich southeastern province of Shabwah and advancing towards Houthi-held Marib to the north.
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