By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani national was killed on Tuesday after falling debris from an intercepted ballistic missile struck a residential area in Abu Dhabi, the third such fatality involving Pakistanis in the United Arab Emirates amid escalating Iranian retaliation against US and Israeli strikes on Tehran.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office confirmed the death in a statement, saying air-defense systems responded to the threat and successfully downed the missile. Fragments fell in the Baniyas area, resulting in the fatality. Authorities did not identify the victim or disclose the missile’s origin, but the incident fits a pattern of Iranian missile and drone barrages targeting Gulf states hosting US military installations since coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes last month killed senior Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The incident resulted in the death of a Pakistani national,” the media office said. It urged the public to rely solely on official sources and “avoid spreading rumors or unverified information.”
The latest death brings the total number of fatalities from recent aerial interceptions in the UAE to seven, authorities said. At least three of the victims have been Pakistani nationals — one in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan’s Embassy in the UAE expressed sorrow and said it was working closely with local authorities to support the family and expedite the repatriation of the body. “We are profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of a Pakistani national in Abu Dhabi’s Baniyas area due to falling debris following the interception of a missile,” the embassy said in a statement. “In this hour of grief, we share in the family’s pain and offer our deepest condolences and prayers.”
The sequence of incidents began Feb. 28 when a Pakistani national, identified by diplomatic officials as Murid Zaman, a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was killed in Abu Dhabi’s Madinat Zayed area after being struck by missile fragments. On Sunday, debris from another aerial interception landed on a vehicle in Dubai’s Al Barsha neighborhood shortly after iftar, killing a Pakistani driver. Tuesday’s strike in Baniyas marked the third such death.
Since the U.S. and Israeli operation against Iran last month, Pakistan has repeatedly advised its large expatriate community across the Middle East and Arabian Gulf to exercise extreme caution, avoid nonessential travel and adhere strictly to local and embassy advisories. Iran has responded to the loss of its top leadership by launching waves of missiles and drones not only at Israel but also at Gulf states with American bases, including the UAE. While the Abu Dhabi Media Office has refrained from attributing any specific launch to Tehran, the timing and nature of the attacks have left little doubt in regional capitals about the source.
UAE officials have maintained a policy of tight-lipped confirmation, releasing only essential details about interceptions and their sometimes lethal consequences. The pattern has nonetheless fueled anxiety among the millions of South Asian workers who keep the Gulf economies running, many of them Pakistani nationals employed in construction, transportation and service sectors.
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