UN Security Council condemns 'terrorist' attacks on UAE by Yemen's Houthis

Council members meet behind closed doors to discuss the attack by the Iran-backed rebels

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously condemned this week’s strikes on Abu Dhabi by Yemen's armed Houthi rebel group as “heinous terrorist attacks” and called for the perpetrators to face justice.

The Houthi rebels attacked the UAE on Monday, launching causing explosions in fuel lorries and starting a blaze near Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The council “condemned in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi” that left three civilians dead and injured six, it said in an agreed statement.

The UN’s top body “underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”, the statement added.

All governments were obliged to “co-operate actively” with the UAE government and “all other relevant authorities in this regard”, the statement read.

The council added that “any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed”, warning of the threat “to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts”.

Council members met behind closed doors to discuss the attack in Abu Dhabi, the UAE's coastal capital of about 1.5 million people.

The UAE’s ambassador to the UN Lana Nusseibeh entered the chamber shortly after 10am local time accompanied by a military official.

They were expected to provide the 15-nation body with details of the aerial strikes.

Mona Juul, the UN ambassador for Norway, which holds the council’s rotating presidency for the month of January, said she was “very much concerned” by events in the Gulf and called for de-escalation.

The attacks occurred after an intensification in the war in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthis have suffered recent losses in their fight against pro-government forces and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Yemen has been mired in violence since the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to restore the government. The war has spawned what the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The UAE joined the UN’s top body for a two-year term beginning on January 1, meaning it can take part in meetings, vote on resolutions and help draft official statements.