Amazon’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reported major technical problems at its data centers in the Middle East after an incident at a facility in the United Arab Emirates caused power failures and service disruptions. (Investing.com)
The company said its cloud regions in both the UAE and Bahrain experienced outages due to power and connectivity issues. The problems started after unidentified objects struck a UAE data center, creating sparks and a fire that forced a shutdown of electricity at the site. (Investing.com)
AWS said that at least one availability zone — a group of data centers that run cloud services — lost power. Engineers worked to restore services, but the company warned that full recovery could take several hours. (Investing.com)
The company advised customers to temporarily use AWS services in other regions while repairs continued. (Daily Sabah)
Possible Link to Regional Conflict
The outage happened during a period of rising tensions in the Middle East, with Iranian missile and drone strikes reported across Gulf countries following earlier military actions by the United States and Israel. (The Economic Times)
Iranian attacks have targeted airports, ports, and residential areas across the region. However, Amazon has not confirmed whether the data center incident was directly caused by the strikes. (The Economic Times)
Businesses Also Affected
Some companies reported technical problems linked to the wider disruptions. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank said customers were experiencing issues with certain online platforms and mobile services, although it was not clear if this was directly related to AWS outages. (Reuters)
Cloud computing services like AWS support websites, apps, and business systems worldwide, meaning disruptions can affect companies and customers across multiple countries.
Services Gradually Recovering
AWS said some systems had started recovering, but technical teams were still investigating additional connectivity problems in the region. (The Economic Times)
The incident highlights how geopolitical conflicts can disrupt digital infrastructure and online services far beyond the immediate conflict zones.