Tech giant Amazon confirmed late Monday that two of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East.
A facility in Bahrain was also damaged by “a drone strike in close proximity,” the company stated in an update to its service health dashboard.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud computing provider, said the attacks caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery, and in some cases required fire suppression efforts that led to additional water damage.
“Due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, both affected regions have experienced physical impacts to infrastructure as a result of drone strikes,” Amazon stated.
The company did not specify whether any employees were injured and said it is working closely with local authorities while prioritizing personnel safety during recovery efforts.
AWS advised affected customers to back up critical data and switch to servers in unaffected regions.
On Sunday, Amazon had reported one UAE data center struck by “objects” and warned users of potential unpredictable challenges.
The incidents form part of collateral damage across Gulf cities from ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which began after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials.
The attacks have triggered Iranian retaliation, including missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases and facilities in the region, contributing to heightened instability and disruptions to critical infrastructure.
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