
Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Foreign Affairs Minister
The government has condemned the terrorist attack on civilian areas and facilities in the United Arab Emirates by Yemen’s Iranian-aligned insurgent group, Houthi.
Three people were killed in the incident, while several others were injured.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said the attacks were a violation of international law and threatened efforts aimed at restoring peace and security to the region.
“The Ghanaian government has urged all sides to avoid any actions that would escalate violence and increase tension in the region. Ghana has expressed its deepest condolences to the government and people of UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the families of the victims,” the statement said.
Background
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group last week attacked the United Arab Emirates with missiles and drones, setting off explosions in fuel trucks that killed three people and caused a fire near the airport of Abu Dhabi.
The Houthis have frequently launched cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Houthis is an Islamist political and armed movement that emerged from Saada in north Yemen in the 1990s.
The movement’s expressed goals include combating economic underdevelopment and political marginalisation in Yemen while seeking greater autonomy for Houthi-majority regions of the country. They also claim to support a more democratic non-sectarian republic in Yemen.
The coalition
The UAE is a member of a Saudi-led military coalition backing Yemen’s government in its seven-year fight against the Houthis, in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and has spawned what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The coalition had announced earlier that it was pursuing hostile activity from Yemen’s Houthi rebels using drones while taking measures in accordance with international humanitarian law to protect civilians.
At least 60 people were killed when a temporary detention centre in the northern province of Saada was bombed on Friday, and about 20 were killed in the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa in an attack on Tuesday.
The escalation has raised concerns of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen where the World Food Programme has warned that more than five million people are on the brink of famine, and 50,000 others were living in famine-like conditions.