Dubai International Airport resumes flights after drone strike on fuel tank
After temporarily suspending flights due to a drone strike at Dubai International Airport, for a few hours in the early morning of Monday, it resumed services to select destinations. The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority told passengers to contact their airlines for updates on flights, which were gradually returning to normal after the incident.
The suspension followed a drone hit on a fuel tank successfully near the airfield complex, which caused an extensive fire sending enormous plumes of black smoke into the sky noticeable from more than several kilometers away. Emergency services were quickly sent out and the airport fire was extinguished soon after with no injuries. The Dubai Media Office in a statement said the strike took place on March 16th, in the early hours. Earlier, Emirates airline announced the cancellation of all flights and urged passengers not to go to the airport.
In a separate incident, Abu Dhabi authorities reported that in the Al Bahyah area a missile struck a civilian vehicle, resulting in at least one dead Palestinian national. Iran's media operations centre warned that more strikes on Dubai and Doha could come in the "coming hours", suggesting the attacks were part of an ongoing campaign, not isolated incidents.
The attack on Monday is perceived in Iran as an escalation of its targeting, with strikes against key fuel and logistics infrastructure that can bring operations to a total halt. The Houthi missile strikes follow over two thousand missles and drones on Gulf Arab states since the war broke out.
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