Yemen rebels claim missile launch toward UAE; no UAE comment

Dubai: Yemen’s Shiite rebels have claimed that they launched a missile toward an under-construction nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. Emirati officials had no immediate comment.

The USD 20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant is in Abu Dhabi’s far western desert. The first of its four reactors, being built in the UAE’s near its border with Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to come online in 2018.

Today’s claim comes amid heavy fighting in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, between the Shiite rebels known as Houthis and some of their former allies led by Yemen’s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saudi-led coalition airstrikes have targeted the Houthis in that fighting.

The claim comes as the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the Saudi-led coalition, celebrates its National Day. (PTI)