Arab countries turn against Qatar, Emirates and Etihad cancel all flights

Flights to Qatar have been cancelled amid a row over the country “supporting terrorists”. Emirates airline cancelled flights to Doha from Tuesday morning, following similar announcements from flydubai, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and Saudia Arabian Airlines. From the evening of 5 June 2017, Etihad Airways will suspend all flights to and from Doha until further notice.

In a shock move today, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain turned against Qatar, saying it supports terrorism. It comes after three attackers killed seven people and and injured 49 in a horrendous van-and-knife raid. Saudi Arabia locked down its borders with the nation, saying Qatari citizens have 14 days to leave the country. The country said it is boycotting Qatar because the nation is “embracing various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilizing the region”.

This follows an announcement from flydubai this morning as the airlines wrote on its Facebook page: “From Tuesday 06 June 2017 all flydubai flights between Dubai and Doha will be suspended”. Egypt accused the nation of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and other terror squads. A statement from Egyptian authorities said: “Qatar has promoted al-Qaeda’s ideology, and given support to ISIS and terrorist operations in the Sinai. Yemen has also joined in the boycott of Qatar, unhappy that it’s allegedly supporting Houthi coup militias.

Saudi Arabia said Qatar has been funding terrorists in Iran too, as Iran’s Foreign Ministry called London’s terror attack on Saturday night “a wake-up call”. Saudia Press Agency said: “Qatar has also supported the activities of the Iranian-backed terrorist groups in the Qatif province of Saudi Arabia and in neighboring Kingdom of Bahrain. The Maldives and Libya’s eastern-based government are also reportedly cutting ties to Qatar.

Qatar Airways has grounded all flights to Saudi Arabia, reports Reuters. Airlines have not said how long the flight ban go on for.