ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s and the UAE’s foreign ministers spoke by phone on Tuesday, a day after Houthi rebels in Yemen launched missile and drone attacks in Abu Dhabi, killing three people, including a Pakistani national.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi got a phone conversation from his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to address the Abu Dhabi terrorist assault, according to a Foreign Office statement.
Three persons were killed and six others were injured after three fuel tanker tankers exploded in the industrial Musaffah region near ADNOC storage facilities, according to Abu Dhabi police. Two Indians and a Pakistani were slain, according to official media.
In Yemen, the UAE is a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels. The Houthi militia has carried out similar attacks in the past against Saudi Arabia, but it was unusual for them to target the UAE. The Gulf state has promised to retaliate against those responsible for the attacks.
Pakistan has been cautious in its approach to the Yemen conflict for years, but it has categorically opposed Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and now the UAE. Qureshi repeated Pakistan’s unequivocal condemnation of the Houthi militia’s barbaric terrorist attack on civilian communities.
He expressed his sympathies to the victims’ families and wished the injured a swift recovery. The UAE foreign minister expressed his profound condolences on the death of a Pakistani person in Abu Dhabi on January 17th as a result of a terrorist assault.
He also informed Foreign Minister Qureshi about the unfortunate situation. The UAE government has provided all-out help in the early repatriation of the deceased Pakistani national’s mortal remains as well as the treatment of the injured, according to the foreign minister.
Qureshi expressed his solidarity with the UAE’s brotherly people and administration in the wake of the unfortunate occurrence, emphasising that such activities violate the UAE’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He demanded an end to such acts, which he said posed a serious danger to regional and world peace and security. “Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates have excellent fraternal ties. “The two foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to further developing and deepening bilateral cooperation,” stated a representative for the Foreign Office.
