Iran launches attacks across the Middle East in retaliation to the US and Israel’s continuous, huge-scale attack against it, consequently killing one person and injuring 11 others at airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
The attacks were launched on Saturday night, with authorities in Abu Dhabi stating that a drone targeting Zayed International Airport (AUH) had been intercepted, but the falling debris consequently killed one person and injured seven others.
Abu Dhabi Airports gave confirmation of the incident in a statement on X which reads, “Authorities in Abu Dhabi are responding to an incident resulting from the interception of a drone that targeted Zayed International Airport. The interception led to falling debris, which resulted in one fatality of an Asian national and seven injuries,”
“The public is urged to avoid circulating rumours and to rely only on official sources. Updates will be provided.”
Dubai International Airport (DXB), the world’s busiest airport by passenger traffic, said in a statement, “A concourse at Dubai International sustained minor damage in an incident, which was quickly contained. Due to contingency plans already in place, most of the terminals were previously cleared of passengers.” According to authorities, four staff had been injured in the “incident”. Furthermore, Dubai’s media office stated a fire sparked at one of the berths at Jebel Ali Port, as a result of an aerial interception.
Many flights in and out of the Middle East have been cancelled as UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait had closed their airspace on Saturday, due to Iran targeting US civilian and military assets in the Middle East. As a result, hundreds of thousands of travellers were either found stranded or diverted to other airports, leading to key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha being shut down, along with more than 1,000 flights cancelled by major Middle Eastern airlines. Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, the three major airlines that operate at those airports, generally have approximately 90,000 passengers passing through those hubs daily, according to aviation analytics firm, Cirium.
As tensions continue to rise, we can see the impact of this widening regional conflict, as civilians, critical infrastructure, as well as global travel networks are increasingly caught in the crossfire.