UAE intercepts 17 ballistic missiles, 35 drones after US-Iran ceasefire

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The UAE intercepted 17 ballistic missiles and 35 drones on Wednesday. The announcement from the Air Defence forces comes after a fragile, temporary US-Iran ceasefire was reached in the wee hours of April 8.

The two countries agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, suspending a six-week-old war that has killed thousands, spread across the Middle East and caused unprecedented disruption to the world's energy supplies.

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While disputes remained unresolved and face-to-face talks are scheduled to take place on Friday in Pakistan, the region still witnessed conflict with Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE still intercepting missile attacks from Iran.

Since the start of the brazen Iranian attacks, the UAE Air Defence Forces have intercepted 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missiles, and 2,256 drones. These attacks resulted in 224 cases of injuries, including today’s strike in the Habshan gas facility, where two Emiratis and one Indian were hurt.

The 224 individuals belong to multiple nationalities including: Emirati, Egyptian, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese, Afghan, Bahraini, Comorian, Turkish, Iraqi, Nepali, Nigerian, Omani, Jordanian, Palestinian, Ghanaian, Indonesian, Swedish, Tunisian, Moroccan, and Russian.

No cases of fatalities were recorded in the past hours. The total number of martyrs stands at two, in addition to the martyrdom of a Moroccan national civilian contractor with the armed forces, while the total number of deaths reached 10 civilians from the following nationalities: Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Palestinian, Indian, and Egyptian.

The Ministry of Defence affirmed that it is on high alert and ready to address any threats and to firmly counter all attempts to undermine the state's security, thereby safeguarding its sovereignty, security, and stability, and protecting its interests and national capabilities.