A wave of Iranian missiles and suicide drones struck targets across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday, leaving three civilians dead and 58 others injured.
The UAE’s Ministry of Defense confirmed that the deceased were expatriate workers from Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, marking the first confirmed fatalities on Emirati soil since the regional conflict escalated following US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Scale of the assault
Emirati Air Defense systems faced an unprecedented test over the last 48 hours.
Military data revealed that 165 ballistic missiles were launched from Iran toward the UAE. While the vast majority—152 projectiles—were intercepted and destroyed, 13 fell into the Arabian Gulf.
The drone swarm was even more extensive.
Of the 541 Iranian drones detected, 506 were neutralized by defense systems. However, 35 drones managed to impact within UAE territory, striking civilian areas and causing varying degrees of structural damage.
Capital impacted
In Abu Dhabi, debris from an intercepted drone struck a high-security complex housing the Israeli Embassy and several other diplomatic missions.
The Abu Dhabi Government Media Office confirmed that two people sustained injuries in the incident, which caused visible damage to the compound.
Casualties
The 58 injured represent a global cross-section of the UAE’s resident population, including nationals from Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, India, Lebanon and more.
Most injuries were described as minor, mostly caused by falling shrapnel as interceptors met their targets over residential districts.
Despite the scale of the “saturation attack,” the Ministry of Defense maintained its tone of resilience, stating that the Air Force remains fully capable of neutralizing multifaceted threats to national sovereignty.
