South African expatriates living in Qatar and Iraq have described scenes of fear and confusion after missile strikes targeted US military bases in the region this week.

According to The Witness, the strikes shook buildings, grounded flights and sent residents scrambling for safety.

Iran’s National Security Council confirmed that it had targeted the US base in Doha ‘in response to the US aggressive and insolent action against Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities’.

It said the number of missiles launched ‘was the same as the number of bombs that the US had used’ against Iran.

A 29-year-old former Howick resident now living in Doha said the blasts shook her 16-storey apartment block.

“It was a normal working day until it was announced that the airspace was closing late on Monday afternoon. I have never experienced something like this and Doha is known to be quite safe for those who are living there,” she said, adding that when the announcement was made she knew it was not a joke and started gathering her essential items.

“I live in a high-rise building so it was really scary. We could hear everything, it was very loud and the buildings were shaking. We were told to go to the basement of the building and wait there until we were cleared.

“It was at around 20:20 when we were told that we had been cleared and could leave. It was terrifying for those of us who have never experienced war, but there were some who remained in their apartments,” she said.

“When I got back to the apartment, the reality of everything began to set in and I phoned my family back home to let them know that I was safe. It was teamwork among the people here. It is a normal day here despite everything being on high alert. Security is here to ensure that we are all safe,” she said yesterday.

A former Pietermaritzburg resident, now living in West Bay, Doha, said she was on the phone to her parents in Turkiye, planning their summer return to South Africa, when the alert rang.

“It was a little nerve-wracking at the time knowing that I could not get out even if I wanted to,” she said.

“We didn’t know when the airspace was going to be opened so we said ‘let’s just wait and see how it progresses over the week’ and then within the next 20 minutes we heard the first big noise.

“We then heard that it did not hit anything, but rather that it was Qatar’s interception. When we saw the news about the interception and how accurate it was, we felt a lot safer; obviously at the time it sounded very scary, like very loud fireworks.

“The building even trembled. I was a little nervous at first. As I got off the phone with my parents, my hands were shaking and I just grabbed my passport, my important documents, and a few essentials.

“I went across to my friend and her husband so we could wait it out. We then made some calls to our family members and we began to calm down after we heard what was going on. Qatar makes you feel very safe.”

A fragile ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war appeared to be holding late yesterday, after 12 days of strikes that saw Israel and the US pummel Iran’s nuclear facilities.

After US President Donald Trump — who had first declared the ceasefire — angrily berated both sides for violating it, Iran announced it would respect the truce if Israel did, while Israel said it had refrained from further strikes.

Israel, in announcing it had agreed to Trump’s plan, said it had achieved all its military objectives.

Iran initially stopped short of officially accepting the proposal, but President Masoud Pezeshkian later said that if ‘the Zionist regime does not violate the ceasefire, Iran will not violate it either’.

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