Tensions are rising in West Asia after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Iran has launched attacks on eight neighboring countries in retaliation for US military bases. Three people, including a Nepali, were killed in an attack in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to a statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Defense on Sunday, one citizen each from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan died. According to the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the details of the Nepalese who died have not been disclosed. The UAE has not even made the incident location public. “We have asked the UAE government to provide details of the Nepalese who died,” Nepali Ambassador Tej Bahadur Chhetri told Kantipur, “Detailed information has not been provided.”

One person was killed when Iran fired a missile at the Abu Dhabi International Airport on Saturday. 58 people were injured in the attacks in different places in the UAE. The injured include citizens from the UAE, Egypt, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Iran, according to the Ministry of Defense. 

According to the UAE Ministry of Defense, 165 ballistic missiles were fired from Iran on Saturday alone. Of these, 152 missiles were neutralized and 13 fell into the sea. Similarly, two cruise missiles and 541 drones were also fired. Although most of the drones were neutralized, 21 drones are reported to have fallen in civilian areas.

About 700,000 Nepalis are working in the UAE. Nissan Shrestha, who works as a security guard, said that they have been under tension since Saturday. ‘The sound of missiles keeps coming in the sky, we don’t know when it will happen,’ he said, ‘We have kept our spirits up, we have not lost courage.’ 

Ganesh Bista, who works in Abu Dhabi, said that despite being worried, they are not unsafe. ‘Looking at social media, it seems that the UAE is ruined, it is not like that, the lifestyle here is normal,’ he said, ‘Iran’s missiles are being neutralized, there is fear but there is no unsafe situation.’

Iranian missiles have damaged buildings around Palm Jumeirah, Burj Al Arab, residential areas, the airport and Jebel Ali Port in the UAE. There is a large presence of Nepalis in these areas. 

UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimi said that the country will leave no stone unturned to protect itself and be fully prepared for it. “The UAE is neutralizing the missile and drone attacks launched by Iran targeting the Gulf countries,” she told CNN. “We send a clear message to the UAE people that you are safe with a leadership that cares about you and will do everything possible to maintain your security.”

Nepalis in the Gulf are terrified by the Iranian attack. They fear that the neutralized Iranian missile will fall inside the labor camp. In response to the attacks by the US and Israel, Iran has been continuously targeting US military camps, airports and residential buildings in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq with missiles and drones. However, the Iranian attacks are not accurate and are scattered everywhere. 

A migrant worker was also killed and 32 people were injured in Kuwait. All the injured are migrants. According to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, the worker injured in the Iranian missile attack died during treatment. The identity of the deceased and injured migrant workers has not been made public. 

There are 175,000 Nepalis working in Kuwait. The industrial area (Sanaiya) where migrant workers are housed is located near the US military base in Qatar. 

On Sunday morning, a missile fired by Qatar fell on a camp in Sanaiya-10, where Nepali workers have a large presence. ‘We were driving on our way to duty in the morning when we heard a bang in the sky. It hit the camp near where we were staying and caused a huge fire,’ said Shivkumar Sunar, ‘After that, we did not go to work, we have stayed inside the camp, the government here is also sending messages on mobile phones asking us not to go out.’

On Saturday, it also fell inside the premises of the Argentine labor camp in Ukir, Qatar. There was no human loss. There are 357,000 Nepalis working in Qatar. 

According to Abdullah Khalifa Al Muftah, the head of public relations at the Qatari Ministry of Interior, on local television, Iran has fired at least 66 missiles. 114 missile fragments fell during the detonation. 16 people were injured. One person is in critical condition. Their identities have not been disclosed. 

‘We were sitting on the roof and watching, it was as if it was raining after the missile detonated in the sky. This happens when the fragments fall. The fragments fell on our roof. It was a piece of iron weighing about one kilogram, we called the police,’ said Rudra Sharma of Khotang, ‘The police took it away.’ 

Qatar has banned outdoor work, saying that the fragments that fell during the detonation of the missile could cause human casualties. It has been decided to make government and private sector workers work from home. ‘Almost all the work sites are closed,’ said Shyam Bhusal of Chitwan, ‘There is not much activity outside, shops are open.’

Shree Krishna Bhattarai of Gorkha said that everyone was scared by the sound of explosions in the sky throughout the night. ‘This war was not directly launched by Iran against Qatar, but only against the American base camp in Qatar,’ he said, ‘We are not too scared, we have followed the instructions issued by the security agencies here.’

The country that Iran has targeted the most is Bahrain. 28,000 Nepalis work in Bahrain. Engineer Fulman Bal, who works in Bahrain, said that everyone has been evacuated from the area around the American base camp. ‘We Nepalis are in touch with each other, the Nepali embassy is also in touch,’ he said, ‘Some friends are very scared, there was a situation of running away for a while, the concern has increased after drone attacks on residential houses as well, we could not sleep all night. It seems like a missile could fall at any time.'

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 1,729,288 Nepali workers in the Gulf region. Four out of the 10 Nepalis in Iran have returned. 'We are regularly updating the government on the latest developments, keeping the security of Nepalis as a top priority,' said Ramkaji Khadka, Joint Secretary in charge of the Gulf region of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 'We are regularly coordinating with the embassy.' He said that the process of forming an emergency rescue team under the coordination of Foreign Secretary Amrit Rai has progressed. 'The Consular Services Department has decided to set up a 24-hour hotline for rescue. If the war continues, we will formulate a strategy to take them to a safe place, taking into account the steps taken by neighboring countries and the readiness shown by the concerned countries,' he said. 

Meanwhile, the government has decided to keep Nepali citizens stranded at airports in various Middle Eastern countries under security. The cabinet meeting held on Sunday stated that since all airports are closed, it is not possible to return or move them forward, and it has been decided to make arrangements to keep them there for the time being with security. 

The government has also directed the Nepali embassies in the concerned countries to remain on high alert and continuously monitor the condition of the citizens. Informing about the meeting, he said, "The situation is not normal, all airports are closed at the moment, no one can be returned or brought back,  therefore, discussions have been held on keeping them there with security." Minister Sharma said that an official travel advisory has been issued for those areas.