United Arab Emirates Grounds Recreational Drones in Wake of Deadly Drone Strike

Drone hobbyists are on a government-mandated hiatus within the United Arab Emirates within the wake of final week’s lethal assault on a key oil facility outdoors the nation’s capital metropolis of Abu Dhabi, the Associated Press reports.

On Saturday, UAE’s inside ministry issued a statement warning drone operators will face “legal liabilities” if caught flying the units for recreation inside the nation. Some companies searching for to make use of drones for filming could also be eligible for exemptions as accepted by allow authorities. Penalties embody as much as three years in jail and fines equal to roughly $27,000, the Dubai-based Khaleej Times experiences.

It marks the newest escalation in air restrictions since Monday’s drone strikes claimed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. In one of many worst assaults so far on UAE soil, the strikes blew up a number of gasoline vans and sparked fires within the surrounding industrial space and close by worldwide airport, killing three folks and wounding six others, Bloomberg reports.

The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba, mentioned Wednesday that each missiles and drones had been concerned within the incidents.

“Several attacks — a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones — targeted civilian sites in the UAE,” he mentioned at a virtual conference organized by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

“Several were intercepted, a few of them didn’t and three innocent civilians, unfortunately, lost their lives,” Al-Otaiba continued.

UAE rules already limit drone flights in residential areas in addition to close to, round, and over airports, the AP famous. Drone hobbyists are required by regulation to acquire a certificates from the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority earlier than flying them in UAE airspace.

On Tuesday, the company notified present and former candidates that the certification course of is on indefinite maintain, the Khaleej Times reports, including that now when customers navigate to use for any drone-related service on its web site, an error message pops up that states, “Sorry, this service is temporarily suspended until further notice.”