US to send jet fighters, warship to UAE after Houthi attacks
Move comes as Yemen’s Houthi rebels vow to continue their attacks on the UAE.
The US is sending advanced jet fighters and a guided-missile destroyer to the United Arab Emirates to help it counter an escalating threat from Yemen’s Houthi rebels after the Iran-backed group launched a series of missiles and drones at the Persian Gulf nation.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the de facto ruler of the Gulf nation, the US is beefing up its military support “as a clear signal that the US stands with the UAE as a longstanding strategic partner”.
Along with the jet fighters, the Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending the warship USS Cole to work with the UAE navy. The US is also providing the UAE with early-warning intelligence to identify Houthi launch sites and operating Patriot missile defence systems that have been used to protect Abu Dhabi during recent attacks.
The US military moves come as Houthi forces are vowing to continue their attacks on the UAE, which is part of a Saudi-led military coalition that has tried for seven years to dislodge the Iran-backed fighters from power in Yemen. The Houthis control a large part of the country’s north, including the nation’s capital.
The war in Yemen created what the UN described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and dragged Saudi Arabia and the UAE into an unpopular conflict that tarnished their reputations in Washington. Under bipartisan pressure from congress in 2018, the Trump administration scaled back direct military support for the Gulf nations’ operations in Yemen.
When he took office last year, President Joe Biden quickly suspended US support for the Saudi-led coalition’s offensive operations in Yemen, saying “the war in Yemen must end”. Mr Biden removed the Houthis from America’s official list of terrorist organisations – a last-minute designation by the Trump administration that was criticised by aid groups that said it could imperil efforts to help civilians in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
But peace talks brokered by the US and UN stalled and Houthi forces seized more ground, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to step up its military campaign in Yemen. The UAE, which withdrew most of its forces from Yemen in 2019, stepped up its help to the Saudi-led coalition.
In response to the escalating fighting, the Houthis have carried out three attacks aimed at the UAE in recent weeks, including one in mid-January that killed three people in Abu Dhabi. The Houthi strikes also pose a threat to US forces stationed at al-Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, where Americans were forced to take shelter on January 24 when the US used Patriot missile air defences during one attack.
The most recent attack took place on Wednesday morning. Emirati officials said they shot down three drones flying over unpopulated parts of the country. It was unclear who launched the drones, and the UAE military didn’t directly blame the Houthis. Earlier in the day, a militant group in Iraq that is aligned with Iran claimed it launched four drones into the UAE, a move that, if proven, would open up a new front from the north for the Emiratis.
On Monday, the UAE and US used air defences to defend Abu Dhabi when Houthi forces in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at the Emirati capital while Israel’s President Isaac Herzog was visiting the city.
The expanding Houthi threat is forcing the Biden administration to recalculate its strategy. The UAE is pushing Mr Biden to put the Houthis back on the US list of terrorist groups.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the US, and Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the envoy to the UN, this week urged world leaders to do more to combat the Houthi threat. “The UAE’s opening of direct ties with Israel created new possibilities,” they wrote. “We are expanding diplomatic efforts across the region toward dialogue and de-escalation. Less shooting and more talking is the only way to build the Middle East neighbourhood we all want.”
The Wall Street Journal
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