First visuals of the explosions reported near Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi on Thursday have surfaced online. The airport hosts a UAE Air Force base.
The 17-second clip shows explosions in the dark sky, after which the airport issued an advisory for passengers which read, “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport unless they hold a confirmed ticket and are advised by their airline to do so. Airport access will be restricted to confirmed travellers only. The safety and wellbeing of passengers and staff remain our highest priority.
Latest advisory in UAE, Qatar
Earlier, Washington also issued an advisory for its citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
According to the advisory, a Level 3 alert stays in place for the Gulf nations. The State Department’s advisory asked Americans in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and other UAE cities to leave the country through land borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, if flights are unavailable.
The Indian Embassy in Doha issued a fresh advisory for its nationals in Qatar on Wednesday, urging them to strictly follow the safety instructions issued by the local authorities. It asked Indian nationals to remain indoors and avoid unnecessary movement.
Qatar ‘shot down’ Iranian bombers sent to strike US base
Qatar shot down Iranian bombers when they were just “two minutes” away from striking the largest military base of the US troops, CNN reported, citing two sources briefed on the operation.
The bomber planes were reportedly visually identified and photographed “carrying bombs and guided munitions”.
Qatar issued a warning over the radio but received no response from the Iranian jets, which had to what the report said was a flying altitude of 80 feet to evade radar detection. Subsequently, the aircraft were “classified as hostile” by Qatar due to time constraints and on the basis of available evidence.
Qatar reportedly deployed its warplanes, and a Qatari F-15 fighter jet, in an “aerial combat” with the Iranian jets, before downing them, the CNN report stated.
