AWS admits six‑month outage at Bahrain and UAE sites after drone strikes

Amazon Web Services confirmed that it has been unable to fully restore service at its Bahrain facility and two data centers in the United Arab Emirates, six months after the sites were hit by drone strikes in March. The company said the damage was extensive enough that normal repair timelines have not been met, and that it continues to work with local authorities on a path to recovery. (CNBC reported)

The March attacks involved unmanned aerial vehicles that struck two AWS sites in the UAE and caused collateral damage to a nearby location. While the drones were not officially claimed by any group, regional analysts have linked the incident to heightened Iran‑UAE tensions, noting a pattern of drone activity aimed at critical infrastructure in the Gulf. (CNBC reported)

Customers relying on AWS cloud services in the region have reported intermittent outages, slower response times, and, in some cases, complete loss of access to hosted applications. The outage has affected businesses ranging from fintech startups to multinational corporations that depend on the cloud for data processing and storage. AWS has offered temporary migration options to other global regions, but the latency and compliance requirements for many Middle Eastern firms make such workarounds challenging.

AWS has been expanding its footprint in the Middle East over the past few years, opening the Bahrain region in 2022 and launching additional zones in the UAE to meet growing demand for cloud computing. The region is seen as a strategic hub for companies seeking to serve customers across the Gulf, North Africa and South Asia, where data sovereignty laws often require local hosting. Disruptions to AWS services therefore have broader implications for digital transformation initiatives underway in the area.

The drone attacks underscore a rising trend of state‑linked or proxy groups targeting digital infrastructure as part of geopolitical contests. Iran’s strained relationship with the UAE and Bahrain has manifested in several incidents since early 2024, prompting regional governments to reassess the security of critical assets, including data centers, ports and energy facilities. The inability to quickly repair the AWS sites reflects both the physical damage and the complexities of operating in a contested security environment.

Looking ahead, AWS officials say they are evaluating long‑term resilience measures, including hardened facilities and diversified routing, to mitigate future threats. Industry observers note that while cloud providers typically restore services within weeks after localized incidents, the combination of extensive hardware damage and regional security constraints can extend recovery periods considerably. For now, businesses in the Gulf must continue to adapt to an uncertain cloud landscape.