- Amazon Web Services (AWS) confirmed that two of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates were directly struck by drones, leading to significant disruptions in regional cloud services.
- A third facility in Bahrain also sustained damage due to a drone strike in close proximity, highlighting the widening geographical impact of the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war.
- The tech giant has advised users to back up critical data and migrate workloads to servers in unaffected global regions while it prioritizes employee safety and infrastructure recovery.
Tech giant Amazon has reported that its infrastructure in the Middle East has suffered “physical impacts” following a series of drone strikes.
Eko Hot Blog reports that in a late Monday update, the company revealed that two of its critical data centres in the United Arab Emirates were directly targeted and hit, causing structural damage and interrupting power delivery.
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These facilities are central to the digital economy, powering a vast array of websites, mobile applications, and generative AI tools across the region.
The spillover of the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has increasingly begun to affect neutral Gulf infrastructure.
Beyond the UAE, a facility in Bahrain was also caught in the crossfire, suffering damage from a nearby explosion.
Amazon stated that the strikes necessitated fire suppression efforts, which unfortunately resulted in additional water damage to sensitive hardware.
While the company is working with local authorities, it has not yet confirmed if there were any casualties among its staff at the affected sites.
The disruptions to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s leading cloud provider sent ripples through the global tech community.
Users across the Middle East reported connectivity issues and service outages throughout Monday.
To mitigate the impact, Amazon has urged its clients to switch to alternative servers in other parts of the world.
This incident follows an earlier report on Sunday where the company vaguely mentioned its infrastructure being hit by “objects,” a situation that has now been clarified as a deliberate drone campaign.
The strikes underscore the precarious nature of global digital infrastructure during regional warfare.
As the US and Israel continue their military campaign following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, the collateral damage to tech hubs in the Gulf is causing unpredictable challenges for businesses and governments alike.
Recovery efforts are currently underway, but Amazon warns that the situation remains fluid and further disruptions could occur as major combat operations in the region show no signs of abating.
