Breaking News:Five Indians among 12 injured in UAE, US fighter jet downed over Iran– What Just Happened

Five Indians were among 12 persons injured in Abu Dhabi on Friday due to debris that fell in the Ajban area after a missile was intercepted by air defence systems, the government media office of the United Arab Emirates’ capital said.

In addition to the five Indians, six Nepali nationals sustained minor to moderate injuries, while one Nepali national suffered serious injuries, the authorities said on social media.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

• A United States fighter jet was shot down over Iran, a US official told Reuters on Friday. A search and rescue operation was underway for any survivors, in the first such known incident since Washington launched its war on Tehran on February 28. Separately, a channel affiliated with Iranian state television claimed that a US pilot had ejected from the aircraft over southwestern Iran, the AP reported.
• The governor of Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said that anyone who captured or killed the crew would be “specially commended”, Reuters quoted the semi-official ISNA news agency as saying. The US Central Command, the Pentagon and the White House have not yet commented on the incident.

• US Army chief Randy George on Thursday retired with immediate effect amid the conflict in West Asia. CBS News quoted unidentified officials as saying that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had asked George to step down because he wants an officer who will implement his and President Donald Trump’s vision for the Army.
• While it is unclear if the decision is related to the conflict in Iran, firing a general during wartime is nearly without precedent, Reuters reported. George was appointed as the Army chief in mid-2023 under the Joe Biden administration and, with a typical four-year tenure, would have been in the position until 2027.
• The US military has destroyed the largest bridge in Iran, Trump said on social media. He shared a video of an air strike on the newly-built bridge that forms a part of the road linking Tehran and Karaj. Eight persons were killed in the attack.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that striking civilian structures “will not compel Iranians to surrender”. The attack by the US “only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray”, he said on social media. “Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America’s standing.”
• Araghchi on Friday also warned that any “provocative action” regarding the situation in the Strait of Hormuz would only “complicate the situation”, reported AFP. His statement came ahead of a scheduled United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution mandating a force to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The vote was eventually postponed, with no new date set.
• On Friday, Trump said on social media that the US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left” in Iran. “Bridges next, then electric power plants!” he said. “New regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, fast!”
• The price of benchmark Brent crude increased to $109 per barrel on Friday from what was about $105 per barrel on Thursday. The price was $78 per barrel on February 27, a day before the conflict started.
• The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said that a drone attack on the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery on Friday had led to fires at several of its operational units. There were no injuries, it said.

The conflict

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region and targeting major cities in Gulf countries.

Tehran has also effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels, triggering a global energy crisis. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.