Six injured in Abu Dhabi and blasts heard in Doha, Manama

Debris from a drone injured six people in an industrial zone of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on Thursday, while Dubai, Doha and Manama were subjected to missile attacks as Iran pressed on with a retaliation campaign. The unprecedented attacks by the Islamic republic, targeting US military assets but also American embassies and civilian infrastructure across the Gulf, continued into their sixth day after US-Israeli air strikes that devastated Iran’s leadership. At least 13 people have been killed in the Gulf, including seven civilians, since Iran began its attacks on Saturday.

Washington said six US servicemen were killed, including four in Kuwait. “Authorities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi responded to an incident involving falling debris at two locations in the ICAD 2 area, following the successful interception of a drone by air defences,” Abu Dhabi media office said in a statement. “The incident resulted in six minor to moderate injuries to Pakistani and Nepalese nationals,” it added.

In Doha, AFP journalists saw a plume of smoke rising from the Qatari capital and reported loud blasts across the city and Qatar’s defence ministry said its military was working to intercept an incoming missile. Earlier, Qatari authorities said they were evacuating residents living near Doha’s US embassy. Residents in Dubai and Manama also heard explosions earlier in the day.

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The fresh salvos came hours after Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani lambasted his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister during a call. The conversation was the first high-level contact between Tehran and a Gulf leader since the start of the attacks. The Qatari premier accused Iran of seeking to “harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs”, according to a statement from Qatar’s foreign ministry.

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