UAE State Minister Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar attends an extraordinary session of Arab League in Cairo on Sunday. AFP

The Arab League on Sunday said Yemen's Houthi rebels should be labelled as a "terrorist" group after they attacked the UAE.

On Jan.17 the Houthis claimed a drone and missile attack that struck an oil facility and the airport in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, killing three people and wounding six.

The pan-Arab bloc, based in the Egyptian capital, said the Huthis should be designated "as a terrorist organisation" after the attack.

In a statement following an extraordinary meeting, it called the strikes "a flagrant violation of international law... and a real threat to vital civilian installations, energy supplies, and global economic stability," as well as a threat to regional peace and security.

Former US president Donald Trump designated the Houthis as a terrorist movement but the administration of President Joe Biden removed the group in response to fears from aid groups responding to what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Biden's administration has, however, sanctioned individual Houthi figures.

On Friday, the UN Security Council unanimously condemned the Huthi strikes on the UAE, whose UN ambassador denounced "these terrorist attacks."

The UAE is a non-permanent member of the Council.

Agnence France-Presse