Missiles, interceptions, air closure mark day of fear for UAE residents
Maya Taneja, a Dubai resident, panicked after hearing loud explosions and frantically started calling friends and relatives on Saturday.
“In the middle of my enquiries, checking on people, I received a call from my brother-in-law in Bahrain. He too had heard explosions in his vicinity. It seems the entire region is on fire,” she said. Taneja was not alone. In a day of dramatic developments following the Israel-US joint attack on Iran, the entire Gulf region braced for a nightmare they had anticipated for months but never experienced.
As Tehran launched simultaneous missiles across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Qatar, civilians took shelter and mostly remained indoors.
Neda Sayed, an Indian AI consultant based in Abu Dhabi, had a scary morning as jets flew close to the area she was in. “We literally had to run down to the basement of the building and wait for almost an hour before we returned,” she said.
Close members of her family have since been spending time in a nearby mall to “feel secure,” she said. Like Taneja and Sayed, numerous calls were exchanged by people checking each other's welfare. Reports of attacks were followed by wailing sirens. Social media is full of people sharing videos and photos of the situation.
Shaji, who goes by a single name, is a Sharjah-based insurance professional. He lamented the lack of credible information amid a volatile situation. “There is so much fake news and old videos being paraded as truth, which adds to the confusion and doesn't help anyone. Everyone should stick to official sources and not share unverified stuff,” he suggested. Earlier, the UAE's Ministry of Defence said it intercepted several Iranian missiles targeting the country and confirmed that missile debris in a residential area led to the death of a civilian. “The missile debris also resulted in some damage to infrastructure,” it added.
“The Ministry of Defense announced that the UAE's air defences successfully intercepted a new wave of Iranian missiles launched toward the country, which were handled with high efficiency, with no damages reported,” the Ministry of Defence statement said.
“The ministry stated that fragments from the missiles intercepted by the UAE's air defences fell in scattered areas of Abu Dhabi, including Saadiyat Island, Khalifa City, Bani Yas area, Mohammed bin Zayed City, and Al Falah area, confirming no injuries in the mentioned locations,” it added.
The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority announced the temporary and partial closure of the country's airspace, “as an exceptional precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the safety of air flights and crews and protecting the state's territories, amid the acceleration and escalation of security developments in the region.”
According to local media reports, hundreds of flights have been cancelled and thousands of passengers are stranded at airports. With the announcement of a total ban on flights, these numbers are likely to go up multiple times.
“Dubai Airports confirms the suspension of all flights at Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) until further notice,” a statement said, advising travellers not to head to the airport at this time and to contact their airlines directly for the latest updates regarding their flights.
Meanwhile, the UAE's Supreme National Security Council too urged the public “to stay away from sites where shrapnel or suspicious objects have fallen, and to refrain from approaching or photographing them, in order to allow the competent authorities to carry out the necessary procedures.”
