UAE Officials Apologize for False Missile Alert

Kathmandu.  Officials of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) apologized on Friday for sending a ‘wrong message of warning’. The warning of a potential missile attack caused panic among local residents.

Official messages sent to mobile phones warned of a ‘potential missile threat’ accompanied by the sound of a loud siren. This was the first warning in more than a month.

Such warnings became common during the Middle East war when Iran launched more than 2,800 drones and missiles targeting the UAE. The UAE succeeded in intercepting most of the drones and missiles.

Immediately after Friday’s false warning, another message was sent stating, “Please disregard the previous warning.” Officials later apologized for this mistake.

“The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority and relevant bodies have apologized for this unnecessary technical error,” the authority said in a statement posted on its official X account page.

“The ‘sudden technical error in the early warning system’ has been ‘addressed and resolved by officials’,” the statement further said.

The UAE, rich in oil and home to American troops like other Gulf countries, had to face retaliation from Iran after Iran’s supreme leader was killed in an America-Israeli attack.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Abu Dhabi this week. The visit was aimed at reassuring Gulf countries in peace talks with Iran.