The attack of the Yemeni Houthi group, on Monday January 17, 2022, on Abu Dhabi Airport brought to mind previous attacks launched by the group on the UAE during the past few years.

During 2017 and 2018, leaders of the Ansar Allah group "Al-Houthi" threatened to strike vital and investment facilities in the UAE and warned investors against this.

Despite the Arab coalition forces’ assertion of targeting the Houthis’ military arsenal by striking weapons depots on the fighting fronts, the group continued to pretend its military strength, and announced on more than one occasion that it continued to possess various types of weapons and that it was developing them locally.

Threat.. Warning.. Hit

December 3, 2017: The Houthi group said that it had launched a cruise missile targeting the Barakah nuclear reactor in the city of Abu Dhabi, while the UAE denied this, and indicated that it had an air defense system capable of dealing with any threat of any kind.

June 2, 2018: The military spokesman for the Houthis, Brigadier General Sharaf Ghaleb Luqman, warned that Abu Dhabi is no longer safe, and that it is in the range of missiles, and called on investors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to take his statements seriously.

- July 26, 2018: The Houthis announced the targeting of Abu Dhabi airport with a drone strike, while the UAE denied the attack and announced an accident caused by a vehicle transporting supplies.

August 27, 2018: The Houthi group announced that it had bombed Dubai Airport with a drone, amid Emirati denials.

September 1, 2018: The Houthi group announced that the Air Force had bombed Dubai International Airport with a Sammad-3 drone, but the UAE authorities denied this.

- September 23, 2018: The commander of the coastal defense forces of the Houthi group, Brigadier General Muhammad Qadri, said in a statement to Al-Jazeera that if the Saudi-Emirati coalition attacked the port of Hodeidah or obstructed work in it, the ports of Jebel Ali in Dubai and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia would be within the naval forces' missile range. affiliated with the group.

Qadri threatened that the Houthis' missiles are capable of "reaching deep into the coalition countries," referring to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

September 30, 2018: Al-Masirah channel, the Houthis' spokeswoman, reported that the Ansar Allah group's air force launched a series of raids on Dubai International Airport using a Sammad 3 drone, while the UAE denied that the airport had been attacked.

May 23, 2019: The Houthis broadcast a video that they said was related to their targeting of facilities at Abu Dhabi International Airport in 2018, with a drone. The UAE denied that the airport had been attacked, and Abu Dhabi said that the accident was caused by a supply vehicle.

- The Houthis said that the plane used in the attack on Abu Dhabi airport was called "Sammad 3", and it targeted Passenger Terminal One.

August 2, 2019: Muhammad al-Bakhiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, told Al Jazeera that they had decided to freeze targeting targets inside the Emirates after changing his tangible description of Abu Dhabi's political and military position on the war in Yemen.

- September 18, 2019: The military spokesman for the Houthis, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, threatened the UAE, saying that "only one operation will cost you a lot."

He continued, "We say to the UAE, if you want safety for your glass towers, leave Yemen alone," noting that the Houthis have dozens of targets within a target bank in the Emirates.

January 17, 2022: The Houthis confirmed that they launched a military operation deep in the UAE, targeting vital facilities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai with drones and ballistic and winged (cruise) missiles.

The authorities in the UAE have only confirmed the occurrence of what they suspect was a drone attack in Abu Dhabi, which killed 3 workers of Indian and Pakistani nationalities.

The dead were killed as a result of an explosion in oil tankers in the Mussafah Industrial Area, and the authorities reported that a fire broke out near Abu Dhabi Airport.

The UAE said it reserves the right to respond to what it called the terrorist attacks on Abu Dhabi.

Six wars

-According to observers, the Houthis acquired the Yemeni army's weapons during the six wars they fought with the Ali Abdullah Saleh regime between 2004 and 2010, as they were able to acquire heavy weapons that they gained from battles and others that they received as supplies from an external ally (Iran).

- September 21, 2014: Since their coup against legitimacy, the Houthis have seized the capabilities of the Yemeni state, including controlling a large part of the army, weapons, ammunition and the ballistic missile system.

March 25, 2015: The military power of the Houthis has emerged since the intervention of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and despite the coalition's announcement of the destruction of about 80% of their missile capabilities with the start of Operation Decisive Storm, ballistic missiles continued to rain down on the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Mid-February 2017: The Houthis announced their possession of locally-made drones, which they said are capable of carrying out combat and reconnaissance missions, surveys, evaluation and early warning work, and they displayed models of these drones at the military manufacturing facility in Sana'a.

December 2017: The Houthis seized more of that arsenal after assassinating their former ally Ali Abdullah Saleh.

ballistic missiles

The short and long-range ballistic missiles are the most prominent weapon used by the Houthis in the face of the Arab coalition, and they began using them in May 2015, when they launched missiles with long ranges of about a thousand kilometers targeting the depth of the Kingdom.

Their missile system includes different types, including Russian Scud missiles, the Tochka missile system, the short-range Russian Frog 7, “Qaher 1” and “Qaher 2”, “Zelzal 1” and “Zelzal 2”, and Hwasong-5, from Korea. North.

September 2016: A long-range "Burkan 1" missile was launched towards the Saudi city of Taif.

August 17, 2017: The Yemeni expert in armed conflicts, Ali al-Dhahab, told Al Jazeera Net that the Houthis had obtained new weapons, such as anti-armor and various infantry weapons, and indicated that there are parties in the Arab coalition that turn a blind eye, and may be partners in smuggling operations.

Al-Dhahab explained that "there are large arms smuggling operations carried out by international and regional networks that are difficult to trace and detect, as one of the transnational organized crime operations."

November 4, 2017: The Houthis targeted King Khalid International Airport with a long-range ballistic missile of the "Burkan H2" type, which has a range of 1,500 km, which the group said was locally manufactured.

The “Burkan H2” is a ballistic missile that has the ability to reach long-range targets at any time, at lower costs, and has the ability to carry different types of warheads, and high explosives, meaning that it is a weapon that knows no borders between countries.

November 24, 2017: The United Nations Independent Monitoring Board said in a report that “there is still no evidence to confirm the identity of the intermediary or supplier” who provided the missiles.

- December 20, 2017, the Arab coalition announced that the Houthi militia had launched 83 ballistic missiles on Saudi territory since 2015.

- Sources in the army loyal to the legitimate authority reported, in the eighth month of the war, that the Houthis possessed between 60-70 ballistic missiles, including Tochka missiles, with a range of 120 kilometers, with a high-explosive warhead, and a weight of 500 kilograms.

- A confidential report prepared by the United Nations sanctions monitors suggested that the ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia were designed and manufactured by Iran.

January 10, 2018: The Houthis announced the introduction of a new, locally developed surface-to-air missile system capable of confronting the aircraft of the Arab coalition in Yemen, and said that this system had managed to shoot down a "Tornado" plane in Saada, northern Yemen, and injuring an F-fighter. 15" in Sana'a, and they said that their armed forces had become stronger and more capable of confronting and confronting the coalition's air force.

March 25, 2018: In a televised speech on the occasion of the third anniversary of the intervention of the Arab coalition, the leader of the group, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said, "We are coming in the fourth year with our missile systems that penetrate all means of protection for the enemy and our drones that reach a long range and with an unprecedented activation of our military institutions."

This statement came in conjunction with their announcement of launching ballistic missiles at Saudi targets, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Jazan Base in the south of the Kingdom, and Abha Regional Airport in Asir, in addition to bombing other targets inside Saudi Arabia.