US says it fired missiles during latest Houthi attack on UAE
Al JazeeraThe White House and the Pentagon acknowledge firing US Patriot interceptors to stave off an attack on Abu Dhabi. While the UAE’s military has not acknowledged the US involvement in thwarting the latest missile attack, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said late on Monday the US military had used “Patriot interceptors to … efforts by the armed forces of the UAE”. She added, “I would say we are working quite closely with them.” The Pentagon also said US forces in the UAE activated Patriot missile defences but that it was the UAE’s surface-to-air interceptors that actually struck down the incoming missile. The interventions mark a widening US involvement in Yemen’s seven-year war between the Houthis and a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, which includes the UAE. US President Joe Biden also mentioned the attack on the UAE at the White House during a visit by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, saying, “America will have the backs of our friends in the region.” Following the recent escalation in Houthi attacks against the UAE, the Saudi-led coalition retaliated by conducting air raids, including in the capital, Sanaa, that have inflicted dozens of civilian casualties and destroyed infrastructure and services.