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Yemeni militants threaten to attack UAE capital — TV

Abdel Salam added that Ansar Allah planned to step up its "combat operations" on the Saudi Arabian border

MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Yeman’s Ansar Allah Houthi movement has threatened to attack the capital of United Arab Emirates and step up its military action in Saudi Arabia, the Alsumaria News Iraqi satellite TV network reported on Saturday evening.

"Abu Dhabi is our main military aim and a direct target for our ballistic missiles," the TV channel quoted the movement’s leader Mohamed Abdel Salam as saying.

Abdel Salam added that Ansar Allah planned to step up its "combat operations on the Saudi Arabian border and will carry them out on the territory of the kingdom."

Since August 2014, Yemen remains devastated in a conflict between the governmental forces and the Houthi insurgents. It entered the most active phase after the Saudi-led coalition invaded the country in March 2015. According to Yemeni human rights activists, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in the country since spring 2015, including almost 2,400 children and some 2,000 women. A total of 18,500 Yemenis were injured in the reported period.

The conflict has led to a humanitarian disaster in the country. The UN reports about 20 million people in Yemen - about 70% of the country’s population - require humanitarian assistance, and the number of internally displaced persons exceeds three million. In Yemen, seven million are on the edge of hunger and two million children are short of food. Besides, the cholera outbreak has killed more than 2,000 people over five months.