On March 16, 2026, one person died when missile debris fell on a civilian vehicle in the Al Bahyah area of Abu Dhabi. The citizenship of the killed person is said to be Palestinian. This incident happened after the missile was destroyed in the air during the attacks being carried out by Iran. The UAE Defense Ministry and Abu Dhabi Media Office have confirmed the incident and have maintained a high security alert across the country.
Death toll in UAE reaches 7
After this latest incident, the total number of deaths in UAE in the conflict that started on 18 February 2026 has increased to seven. So far, a total of 142 people have been injured due to these attacks, who have suffered minor to moderate injuries. The dead include UAE citizens as well as many expatriates who live here for work.
Citizenship Death toll Emirati 2 Pakistani 2 Nepali 1 Bangladeshi 1 Palestinian 1
Keeping in mind the safety of migrants, the authority is continuously issuing guidelines so that everyone can remain safe.
Air defense systems and recent attacks
UAE is continuously thwarting attacks with the help of its advanced air defense systems like Patriot and THAAD. So far, 298 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,606 drones have been destroyed in the air. Despite this, some drone attacks have shown effect, due to which it is important to remain alert.
A drone targeted a fuel tank at Dubai International Airport (DXB), due to which flights were diverted to Al Maktoum (DWC). Later the flights started again at 10 am. A drone attack also caused a fire in the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, which was brought under control by the Civil Defense team. Drone and missile attacks were also destroyed in the air in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
What is the security alert for people?
At around 8:50 in the morning, an emergency alert was sent to residents’ mobile phones asking them to move to safe places. After some time, when the situation became normal, safe signal was also given. The Abu Dhabi Media Office has appealed to the general public and expatriates to trust only official news sources and avoid sharing any rumours. To increase security in the Gulf region, the US administration has asked seven countries to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz so that trade and sea routes can be kept safe.