DUBAI: Missiles and drone attacks struck across the UAE today, disrupting travel at Dubai airport, causing a fire in a crucial oil hub in the east and killing one civilian.
“Even the usually quiet northern emirate of Umm Al Quwain was not spared, with a drone attack damaging an unspecified building but inflicting no casualties,” authorities said.
The slew of attacks came a day after Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said US bases in the Middle East were used to bomb it and that missiles had been launched from the UAE to strike Kharg Island. UAE officials have denied the claim.
In the eastern emirate of Fujairah, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a fire, days after an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from a major Emirati energy installation there.
A Palestinian civilian was killed on the outskirts of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi when a missile hit his car, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.
The UAE has reported seven deaths since the war began, including five civilians and two military personnel, who died in a helicopter crash blamed on a technical malfunction.
Earlier today, Dubai Airports said flights were gradually resuming at what is usually the world’s busiest international hub, following a nearby fuel tank fire sparked by a “drone-related incident”.
Authorities said they had contained the fire and reported no injuries.
Dubai airport has been targeted by several attacks since Iran began its Gulf campaign, as have many airports in the Gulf.
‘Limited schedule’
Two witnesses told AFP they saw a thick plume of black smoke rising from the direction of the airport at around 10am local time, hours after the incident.
A witness at Dubai airport told AFP that passengers awaiting their flights had been evacuated to a lower floor for several hours after the attack.
“It has been a difficult few weeks hearing explosions regularly, but the Iranian attacks followed me in my last hours before I could fly back home,” the witness added.
Iran has fired over 1,900 missiles and drones at the UAE, more than any other country targeted by Tehran since the start of the Middle East war, upending travel plans in the financial hub despite its air defence intercepting the vast majority of projectiles.
Tehran has taken aim at US assets in the Gulf countries, but also civilian infrastructure, including landmarks, airports, ports and oil facilities, after US-Israeli attacks sparked the war.
In Fujairah, on the UAE’s east coast, a drone attack on oil infrastructure sparked a large fire, authorities said, reporting no injuries and adding that “efforts continue to bring it under control”.
The site sits on the UAE’s Gulf of Oman coast. A pipeline to the eastern emirate allows a large proportion of the country’s oil exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed by Iran.
AFP journalists also heard explosions in the Qatari capital Doha, where foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari earlier told reporters talks with Iran are only possible if it ceases its Gulf attacks.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry also reported intercepting more than 60 drones since midnight on Monday in the east of the country.
