Yemen's Houthis release footage of 'drone attack' on Abu Dhabi airport denied by UAE

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Thursday released footage allegedly showing a drone attack on Abu Dhabi International Airport last year.

The attack, claimed by the Iran-linked Houthis last year, was at the time denied by both the UAE, a participant in the Saudi-led coalition war against the rebel group in Yemen since 2015.

The video release comes amid rising tensions in the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it had shot down an "explosive-laden drone" heading towards Najran airport, a joint civilian and military facility already targeted twice this week by Houthi drone attacks.

The Houthi-linked Al-Masirah television channel on Thursday release footage it said showed a drone attack on Abu Dhabi airport, claimed by the group in July 2018.

At the time, Abu Dhabi airport said in a tweet that there had been an "incident involving a supply vehicle" but that the airport remained fully operational.

The UAE maintained that no drone attack had taken place at the airport.

The Houthis, however, have repeatedly warned that they have the capability to strike locations as far from Yemen as the Saudi capital Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

In the video, a drone can be seen flying over a plane and connected jet bridge.

The footage then cuts to show two large trucks, which are then engulfed in a large explosion.

The explosion was the result of the Houthis' armed Samad-3 drone, Al-Masirah reported.



The Iran-linked group also claimed a drone attack on Dubai airport last year, an incident neither confirmed nor denied by the UAE.

The Houthis claimed earlier on Thursday they had targeted a Patriot air-defence system in a drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Najran airport.

Riyadh said it had shot down an "explose-laden" Houthi drone which had been sent to attack a "civilian airport".

Najran airport contains both a civilian airport and a military base.

The airport has been the target of three attacks this week, with an armed drone hitting a weapons depot at the base on Tuesday according to Al-Masirah.

Saudi Arabia confirmed there had been an attack that day but said the drone had targeted "civilian infrastructure" without mentioning any casualties.

The group also said it had targeted a "hangar containing war planes" at the airport on Wednesday, which Saudi Arabia did not confirm or deny.

Similar attacks on Saudi Arabia by the Houthis have sparked rounds of Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen, which have been widely criticised for killing civilians.

The war on Yemen has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.