Bahrain's sprawling Al Ma'ameer oil facility was hit, causing a fire and damage, with the country's state-owned energy firm Bapco declaring force majeure -- the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.

Energy producers in Qatar and Kuwait earlier made similar declarations, which are a warning that events beyond their control may lead them to miss export targets.

Bapco said it "hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex", according to a statement posted by the company.

Bahrain later said that the blaze at the oil facility had been brought under control.

Asian stock markets plunged on Monday as oil prices surged, with investors running for the hills as crude rocketed to its highest level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The market instability came as Iran continued to target the Gulf with missile and drone barrages, with authorities scrambling to contain the fallout.

Two Emirati servicemen were meanwhile killed after their helicopter crashed due to a "technical malfunction", Abu Dhabi's defence ministry said.

The aircraft went down while the crew were performing national duty inside the country, it added.

- Evacuation -

Saudi Arabia's defence ministry meanwhile said the kingdom took down and destroyed four waves of drones heading towards the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country.

Gulf countries have borne much of Tehran's response after the United States and Israel launched a massive aerial campaign against Iran on February 28.

The Emirati military deaths bring to 23 the number of people killed in the Gulf since Iran began its attacks, including 10 civilians and seven US service members.

The latest strikes came after Washington ordered embassy staff to leave Saudi Arabia, following a rash of attacks targeting the kingdom.

The State Department said in a travel advisory it had "ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks".

Drones hit the US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, and drones have also caused damage at the US diplomatic missions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

- Waves of drones -

On Monday, Bahrain said another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra injured 32 people overnight.

All of the wounded were Bahraini citizens and there were four "serious cases", including children, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

They included a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries, and a two-month-old baby, according to the ministry.

Explosions were also heard on Monday both overnight and later in the day in Doha and emergency sirens sounded in Manama, AFP journalists said.

Qatar said it intercepted 17 ballistic missiles and six drones launched from Iran with no casualties reported.

The UAE said its air defences detected 15 ballistic missiles, destroying 12 while three fell into the sea, and intercepted 17 of 18 drones.

Kuwaiti authorities announced a missile and drone attack on Monday and the defence ministry said its military was working to intercept the salvo.

Late on Monday, the Kuwaiti army said it was intercepting another wave of drones and missiles, adding that any explosions heard were the result of countermeasures.

Also late on Monday, Bahrain said it continued "to confront successive waves of heinous Iranian terrorist attacks", with 102 missiles and 173 drones intercepted since the start of the war.

burs-ds-csp/bou/dcp