Kuwait says air defences destroy hostile drones, facilities damaged

Kuwait City: Kuwait said on Saturday that its armed forces had detected and destroyed hostile drones in the country’s airspace, while several vital installations were targeted in what it described as “Iranian aggression.”

The drones, which had been detected since early Saturday, targeted several vital installations, including a government facility in northern Kuwait and civilian vehicles on Bubiyan Island, said the General Staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces in a statement posted on social media platform X.

Falling debris caused material damage, with no casualties reported, according to the statement.

Earlier on Saturday, the General Staff said air defence systems were intercepting hostile targets, adding that explosions heard across the country were caused by the interceptions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kuwait has faced repeated drone and missile attacks in recent weeks, which its authorities have attributed to Iran.

The attacks occurred amid escalating regional tensions and a growing Iran-US confrontation that is spilling over into regional states.

On Friday, the Kuwaiti Army said that “hostile drones” entering the country’s airspace and targeting several vital and military facilities were detected and destroyed.

The falling debris caused material damage, with no casualties reported, it said, attributing the attacks to Iran. It did not specify the number of drones destroyed, the targeted sites, or the extent of the damage.

The incident came amid renewed exchanges of airstrikes between the United States and Iran after days of pause, as well as the emergence of a new Red Sea front involving Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

One person was killed in northern Kuwait on Thursday during an Iranian attack, the Kuwaiti military said.

According to Kuwait’s armed forces and the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait, the attack resulted in the death of a Nepalese driver employed by a subcontractor of a Chinese company in the region and caused property damage to the company.

On Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that the IRGC fighters attacked the US air base in Ali Salem in Kuwait, setting fire to and destroying two drone hangars and a fuel tank for aircraft and military helicopters, Sepah News Agency reported.

Last week, the IRGC said its forces had struck and completely destroyed a “very large” US ammunition depot at Ali Al Salem Air Base with “advanced and ultra-heavy” kamikaze drones.

It added that its forces also attacked facilities housing US forces at the base, causing casualties.

According to the IRGC, its forces completed an earlier military operation against the data centre of US company Amazon in Bahrain, destroying its remaining building.

It further claimed to have demolished three US ammunition and equipment depots at the Al-Adiri Camp in Kuwait, and struck the watchtower of the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, causing significant damage.