Dubai: The United States will send a warship and fighter jets to help defend the United Arab Emirates, officials said Wednesday, after missile attacks by Yemeni rebels left three dead in the wealthy Gulf state.
The deployment, to “assist the UAE against the current threat”, follows a phone call between Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the US embassy in the UAE said.
The UAE, a major financial hub and part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels for seven years suffered its third missile attack in consecutive weeks on Monday.
As part of the new arrangements, the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole will partner with the UAE Navy and make a port call in Abu Dhabi, while the US will also deploy “fifth-generation” warplanes, which are the most advanced.
Other actions include “continuing to provide early warning intelligence (and) collaborating on air defense”, the embassy said.
The USS Cole, currently in port in Bahrain, was bombed by Al-Qaeda in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000, killing 17 sailors.
Austin and the crown prince “discussed the recent Huthi attacks against the UAE that caused civilian casualties and also threatened the US and Emirati armed forces stationed at Al Dhafra airbase,” the embassy added.
In the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa, senior Huthi official Sultan al-Samei dismissed US support.
“These new forces that have arrived or will arrive in the UAE do not frighten us,” he said.