An Onchan woman now living in Dubai has spoken of the moment shrapnel the size of her hand from a destroyed drone or missile landed in her garden.

Maria Makonnen moved to the United Arab Emirates city in 2018 with her husband Alex after he got a job as a pilot with Emirates airlines. They live in Dubai with their daughters Athena, 10 and Elara, 12 while her other daughter Eden still lives in the Isle of Man.

But the family’s idyllic life has been rocked by the war in the Middle East after the US and Israel launched widespread strikes on Iran on Saturday in which the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed.

US President Donald Trump says the attacks were launched to stop Iran building a nuclear weapon. Iran has retaliated with missile attacks at Israel and US allies including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar where US military bases are established.

Now in its fourth day, Iran and the US/Israel are continuing to trade missile attacks.

Maria says she gets regular alerts telling her and her family to stay indoors as the missile and drone attacks on nearby targets continue.

She said: ‘We didn’t hear much about it within the UAE and only got news from foreign websites and channels. We were none the wiser.

‘When the attacks began it came as quite a shock to us and it happened very quickly.

‘We were going about our business on Saturday morning and I had been to the hairdressers. Everything was normal.

‘Then I heard these blasts in the distance. At first I thought it was daytime fireworks as there is a theme park nearby which often releases them. But it soon became obvious they were missiles.

‘They were falling in the Jumeirah region and one of the hotels was struck. But later these blasts were happening over our heads.

‘The vibrations shook the windows and walls and went through my chest. Then a piece of shrapnel the size of my hand fell in the garden on Sunday. I had only been there a short time earlier. I’m not sure if it was from a drone or a missile.’

Maria and her family have not been able to relax since with attacks ebbing and flowing.

She said: ‘There will be a couple of blasts and then it goes quiet. Then, suddenly, it starts again.

‘My daughter thought she saw a shooting star but we realised it was a missile.

‘We thought it was calming down and flights were beginning to go again from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But then at 3am we had an alert from the British Embassy there had been attacks in Abu Dhabi.

‘When there are alerts we are told to stay inside and away from the windows. There have been times when it has been very scary.

‘The schools have been closed and we are distance learning. My daughter recently had a heart procedure which adds to the concern. The other day we went for a short walk but, within five minutes, it started again.’

The experience has given Maria much food for thought.

‘It makes you think,’ she said. ‘There are parts of the world where this is just a daily occurrence for many children and it is not something you experience in the Isle of Man.’

But there is no thoughts at present of moving away from Dubai.

‘My husband can’t leave because of his work,’ Maria said. ‘If I left we would split the family up and we don’t want to do that. But there are other people who are leaving.

‘But we always come back to the Isle of Man for the summer so hopefully we can still do that this year.’