An Iranian attack killed an Indian national and injured 63 people at Kuwait’s international airport, forcing it to close temporarily, in the first deadly strike on the Gulf since an April 8 ceasefire came into place.
The attacks, which Kuwait says damaged unnamed diplomatic missions, test a ceasefire that has largely held despite sporadic strikes.
It largely halted more than a month of war, sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran, during which Iran launched thousands of missiles and drones at Gulf nations.
Iran accused Kuwait and Bahrain of allowing the United States to use their territory to launch attacks on an Iranian tanker and island.
Tehran said it attacked the US Navy’s Middle East headquarters in Bahrain as well as the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, but did not mention the airport.
Health ministry spokesman Abdullah al-Sanad said 25 ambulances were dispatched at Kuwait International Airport, adding that “63 injured individuals were received and distributed among hospitals ... This includes serious injuries ... including head wounds, cerebral haemorrhages, amputations and injuries resulting from explosions.”
The injured included civilians, airport workers and travellers.
The airport compound includes Cargo City, a base used by US forces but at a distance from the civilian terminals.
The Indian foreign ministry said one of its citizens was killed at the airport and condemned the strike: “We again call on all parties to cease such attacks.”
Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence spokesman Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said 30 ballistic missiles and drones were launched as part of the “heinous Iranian aggression” that caused “significant material damage to the building”.
Kuwait’s state news agency said civil aviation authorities had suspended traffic and transferred arriving flights to alternative airports after “Terminal One came under Iranian attacks causing casualties and damage”.
Air traffic partially resumed later in the day, with all Kuwait Airways flights operating again.
Kuwait’s international airport was targeted several times during the war, and had only fully resumed operations on June 1.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards blamed the US for targeting an Iranian oil tanker and communications tower on the country’s Qeshm Island.
“In response to this aggression, the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, which hosts helicopters, as well as the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, were targeted with missiles and drones by the Guards’ forces.”
Earlier, the US military said that it had “successfully defeated” a series of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain and conducted strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
“Two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait fell short or broke apart en route, and three missiles launched at Bahrain were immediately intercepted by US and Bahrain air defence forces,” the US military command for the region, Centcom, said.
“All Iranian attacks on American forces failed.”
Bahrain authorities said they had intercepted three missiles and a number of drones launched by Iran.
- AFP
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeart app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeart is easy to use and all FREE
