Dubai, Mar 18: Iran launched strikes toward Israel and neighbouring Gulf countries early Wednesday, with explosions heard in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar and interceptions reported in Saudi Arabia.
The attacks came hours after Iranian state media confirmed Israel’s military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, as well as Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, known for its role in suppressing protests.
An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in Bachoura, central Beirut, completely flattening it as day broke. Two earlier strikes on residential apartments in other central Beirut neighbourhoods early Wednesday killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Israeli strikes targeting central Beirut have become increasingly frequent in recent days, with or without prior warning. The attacks have hit far from the city’s southern suburbs, for which the army issued evacuation notices early in the war with Hezbollah.
The US-Israeli war with Iran has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 900 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The US military says 13 US service members have been killed and about 200 wounded.
Latest reports of live fire
An Associated Press journalist heard loud explosions on Wednesday morning in Irbil city in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
Israeli strikes kill 2 in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley
Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed at least two people in Lebanon’s western Bekaa valley, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The strikes in the town of Sohmor also wounded at least six others, the ministry said.
Islamic and Arab foreign ministers will discuss regional security
Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries as the Iran war shows no sign of abating.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the meeting in the capital Riyadh will include a discussion of means to “support regional security and stability.”
Gulf Arab states have repeatedly come under fire from Iran, raising anger at Tehran, as well as the United States and Israel, for launching the war.
Saudi forces destroy a drone near the diplomatic quarter
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says its forces shot down a drone Wednesday morning as it approached the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, which houses the US embassy and other foreign missions.
Latest reports of live fire
Missile alerts sounded in Dubai again on Wednesday morning as the noise of interceptors exploding overhead boomed across the city-state. Dubai authorities said all the interceptions had been successful with no injuries.
Israel said it detected a new missile launch from Iran targeting it on Wednesday morning. (AP)
