Two ballistic missiles downed over Abu Dhabi as tensions soar

Abu Dhabi: Two ballistic missiles aimed at Abu Dhabi were shot down in the early hours of Monday, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Authorities confirmed "that the attack did not result in any casualties, as the remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas around the emirate".

The ministry said the weapons were launched by the Houthi terrorist group, state news agency Wam reported.

Flashes were seen in the sky over the capital at about 4.15am, residents said.

The ministry said "it is ready to deal with any threats and that it is taking all necessary measures to protect the state from attacks".

Officials later said a UAE air force F-16 unit retaliated, destroying a mobile missile battery in Al Jawf outside the Houthi-controlled capital Sana'a.

In Abu Dhabi on Monday, pupils returned to schools as planned after several weeks of remote learning and the roads were busy.

At the airport, flights took off as normal on a busy Monday morning. Social media claims that the airport closed appeared to be entirely false.

There were no flights planned between 3.45am and 5.10am - and 17 flights took off between then and 9am as scheduled, the airport's live board showed.