UAE cracks down on social media footage of Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi

The United Arab Emirates' top prosecutor on Wednesday summoned several people who had shared on social media footage of an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Abu Dhabi, the state news agency said.

The Houthis fired ballistic missiles on the Emirates' capital on Monday amid escalated fighting with the Saudi-led coalition that has been battling them and of which the UAE is a part.

"The Public Prosecution has met with several individuals who circulated a social media video that showed defence forces intercepting Houthi terrorist attacks against critical facilities in the UAE," said state news agency WAM.

The prosecutor's office warned social media users that "such videos threaten vital and military facilities in the country and national security and stability".

Top prosecutor Hamad Al-Shamsi said the state would "take the appropriate legal action against related crimes", without specifying the measures or penalties, said WAM.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to prop up the internationally recognised government after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa months earlier.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict which the United Nations has labelled the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

On Monday, Abu Dhabi announced that its defence forces had intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis. No casualties were recorded.

The attack came a week after the Houthis killed three people in a drone and missile assault on Abu Dhabi - the first deadly attack on UAE soil claimed by Houthis and acknowledged by the Emiratis.

The attack triggered a volley of deadly coalition air strikes on Yemen, while Houthis in turn threatened to escalate their attack on the Emirates.