The UAE armed forces, which U.S. officials say launched air strikes against Islamists in Libya, has 51,000 members, including 4,500 in the air force, the International Institute for Strategic Studies says.

The army has 44,000 personnel and the navy 2,500, the IISS says in its publication The Military Balance 2014.

The United Arab Emirates had no comment Tuesday after US officials said warplanes from the Gulf state had secretly bombed Islamist militia targets in Libya flying from bases in Egypt.

Contacted by AFP, an Emirati official said only that his country has "no reaction" to such reports.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday denied reports that the Egyptian air force carried out air strikes in Libya on Islamist militiamen around the capital's airport.

London police on Thursday tried to reassure UAE tourists that the city's main shopping streets were safe to visit, after the Gulf state's foreign ministry warned visitors to avoid certain areas.

The ministry produced the advice -- citing information from the Scotland Yard police headquarters -- after a series of attacks on wealthy Emiratis earlier this year.

The United Arab Emirates has toughened anti-terrorism laws, local media reported Thursday, as concerns mount worldwide about increasing violence being committed by radical Islamist groups.

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday offered around USD 1.5 million dollars in “immediate” aid to residents who were forced to leave the battle-hit Bekaa region of Arsal.

“Chairman of the (Emirati) Red Crescent Authority Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed ordered allocating 5 million dirhams to rescue the displaced in Arsal as a result of the region's latest developments,” UAE's news agency WAM reported on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates said Monday it will offer nearly $41 million in aid for the reconstruction of Gaza homes hit by Israel's military offensive against rocket-firing militants.

Of that figure, 150 million dirhams ($40 million) was part of an agreement between Abu Dhabi and the Emirati Red Crescent and the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, according to the Red Crescent.

Abu Dhabi has accused the Al-Jazeera TV channel and websites close to Qatar of "fabricating" information suggesting UAE supported Israel's operation in Gaza, in the latest tensions between both countries.

Relations between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sank to a new low in March when the three governments withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, accusing it of meddling in their affairs and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

Oil-rich United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday it will create a space agency with the aim of sending the first Arab unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.

"The UAE has entered the space race with a project to send an unmanned probe to Mars by 2021 in the Arab world's first mission to another planet," said an Emirati government statement.

The United Arab Emirates pledged $25 million in humanitarian aid Thursday to "support the steadfastness" of Palestinians in Gaza where Israeli strikes have killed more than 70 people in three days.

The Emirati Red Crescent will supervise delivery of the aid, WAM state news agency said, adding that the aid organization will also set up a field hospital in Gaza "to help the victims of the Israeli aggression".