Dubai - The United Arab Emirates on Sunday denied a report that Yemen's Houthi group had fired a missile towards a nuclear plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), state news agency WAM reported on its Twitter account.
It quoted the UAE's emergency and crisis management department as saying the UAE possessed a missile defence system that could deal with any such threats and adding the al-Barakah nuclear plant was secure against all eventualities.
Earlier on, Yemen's Houthi group said it had fired a
cruise missile towards a nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi in the
UAE, the group's television service reported on
its website on Sunday, without providing any evidence.
There were no reports of any missiles reaching the UAE.
The Iran-aligned Houthis control much of northern Yemen and
had said Abu Dhabi, a member of the Saudi-led coalition fighting
against them since 2015, was a target for their missiles.
"The missile force announces the launching of a winged
cruise missile ... towards the al-Barakah nuclear reactor in Abu
Dhabi," the website said. It gave no further details.
The Barakah project, which is being built by Korea Electric
Power Corporation (KEPCO), is expected to be
completed and become operational in 2018, the UAE energy
minister has said.
It is the second time this year the Houthis have said they
have fired missiles towards the UAE. A few months ago they said
they had "successfully" test fired a missile towards Abu Dhabi.