Satellite photos show aftermath of Abu Dhabi oil site attack

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday appear to show the aftermath of a fatal attack on an oil facility in the capital of the United Arab Emirates claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. The images by Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show smoke rising over an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood after the attack. Later Tuesday, UAE’s ambassador to the United Nations called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council “to address the Houthi terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi.” Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh strongly condemned “the Houthis’ targeting of civilians and civilian objects in flagrant violation of international law.” “This illegal and alarming escalation is a further step in the Houthis’ efforts to spread terrorism and chaos in our region,” she said. Senior Emirati diplomat Anwar Gargash broke the silence on Twitter, saying that Emirati authorities were handling the rebel group’s “vicious attack on some civilian facilities” with “transparency and responsibility.” The office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had been in the Emirates on a state visit, said he spoke to Abu Dhabi’s powerful Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, immediately after the attack. However, the state-linked newspaper The National in an editorial Tuesday called the Houthis “an extremist organization reliant on terrorism and, most of all, fear.” It said the Houthis’ “attempts to bring that fear to Abu Dhabi failed as the explosions were swiftly brought under control.” Concerns over future attacks reaching the UAE, a major oil producer and OPEC member, helped push Brent crude oil prices to their highest level in seven years.