ABU DHABI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday that its air defense systems intercepted three ballistic missiles and detected 129 drones earlier in the day, amid what it described as continued Iranian attacks.

According to an official statement, 121 of the 129 detected drones were intercepted, while eight fell within the country's territory. No ballistic missiles successfully struck their targets.

Since the onset of Iran's retaliation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and U.S. assets across the region, the ministry reported detecting 189 ballistic missiles launched toward the UAE, of which 175 were destroyed, 13 fell into the sea, and one landed within the country. A total of 941 Iranian drones were detected, with 876 intercepted and 65 falling inside the UAE territory. In addition, eight cruise missiles were detected and destroyed.

The ministry confirmed that the attacks resulted in three fatalities of Pakistani, Nepali and Bangladeshi nationalities, as well as 78 minor injuries among individuals of multiple nationalities, including Emirati, Egyptian, Sudanese, Ethiopian, Filipino, Pakistani, Iranian, Indian, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Azerbaijani, Yemeni, Ugandan, Eritrean, Lebanese and Afghan, the ministry said.

It added that sounds heard across the country were from air defence systems intercepting ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft engaging drones and cruise missiles. These operations caused minor to moderate material damage to a number of civilian facilities. ■