United Arab Emirates intercepts two ballistic missiles targeting Abu Dhabi

The attacks threaten the business-friendly, tourism-focused efforts of the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian peninsula which is also home to Dubai. For years, the country has marketed itself as a safe corner of an otherwise-dangerous area.

Videos on social media showed the sky over Abu Dhabi light up before dawn on Monday, with what appeared to be interceptor missiles racing into the clouds to target the incoming fire. Two explosions later thundered through the city. The videos showed known features of Abu Dhabi.

The state-run WAM news agency said that missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi.

The missile fire disrupted traffic into Abu Dhabi international airport, home to the long-haul carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack.

The Emirati defence ministry later tweeted out a black-and-white video that it said showed an F-16 striking the ballistic missile launcher used in the Abu Dhabi attack. It identified the site as being near al-Jawaf, a Yemeni province about 1,400km (870 miles) south-west of Abu Dhabi.

The F-16 is flown by both Bahrain and the UAE, but not Saudi Arabia. The ministry did not acknowledge which country flew the mission.

New, high-resolution satellite photographs obtained by the AP from Planet Labs PBC showed repair work still ongoing at the fuel depot Saturday. Emirati officials have not released images of the attacked sites, nor allowed journalists to see them.