UAE says reserves right to respond after Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi kills three

DUBAI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group attacked the United Arab Emirates using drones on Monday, setting off explosions in three fuel trucks and causing a fire near the airport of Abu Dhabi, capital of the region's commercial and tourism hub.

The strike on a leading Gulf Arab ally of the United States takes the war between the Houthi group and a Saudi-led coalition to a new level, and may hinder efforts to contain regional tensions as Washington and Tehran work to rescue a nuclear deal.

"The UAE condemns this terrorist attack by the Houthi militia on areas and civilian facilities on Emirati soil...(It) will not go unpunished," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The UAE reserves the right to respond to these terrorist attacks and criminal escalation."

The UAE, a member of the coalition, has armed and trained local Yemeni forces that recently joined fighting against the Houthis in Yemen's energy-producing Shabwa and Marib regions.

The Houthi movement has frequently launched cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, but has claimed few such attacks on the UAE, mostly denied by Emirati authorities.

"With (nuclear) negotiators running out of time, the risk of a deterioration in the region’s security climate is rising," said Torbjorn Soltvedt, Principal MENA Analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Three people were killed and six wounded when three fuel tanker trucks exploded in the industrial Musaffah area near storage facilities of oil firm ADNOC, state news agency WAM said. It said those killed were two Indians and a Pakistani.

ADNOC later said an incident at its Mussafah Fuel Depot at 10:00 am local time had resulted in a fire and that it was working with authorities to "determine the exact cause".

"ADNOC is deeply saddened to confirm that three colleagues have died. A further six colleagues were injured and received immediate specialist medical care," it said in a statement.

Police closed the road leading to the area, where unverified footage on social media had shown thick black smoke.

"Initial investigations found parts of a small plane that could possibly be a drone at both sites that could have caused the explosion and the fire," Abu Dhabi police said.

An Etihad Airways spokesperson said a small number of flights were briefly disrupted at Abu Dhabi airport due to "precautionary measures", but normal operations quickly resumed.