An Iranian drone strike targeting a oil refinery in Bahrain overnight injured 32 cilvilians, four of them children. Image courtesy of UPI
At least 32 people were injured, including four children, in an Iranian drone strike on Bahrain overnight, the largest casualty toll sustained by a Gulf nation since Iran began its attacks in retaliation for the offensive launched by the United States and Israel.
Condemning it as a “heinous” attack targeting the Sitra area of the kingdom, the Bahrain Ministry of Health said that among those hurt, all Bahraini citizens, four were seriously injured including a 17-year-old girl who sustained severe head and eye injuries and two children aged 7 and 8 who suffered serious injuries to their lower limbs.
The youngest victim was two months old.
The Interior Ministry said a number of homes in the area had also been damaged in the attack which, in a post on X, it called “blatant Iranian aggression.”
The attack was targeting the Bapco Oil Refinery in Sitra, an island just southeast of the capital, Manama, with images circulating online showing a blaze and columns of thick black smoke billowing from the facility.
State-owned Bapco Energies declared a force majeure situation following the strike, releasing itself from contractual obligations and liabilities.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain’s integrated energy company, hereby serves notice of Force Majeure on its Group operations which have been affected by the on-going regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its Refinery complex,” Bapco said in a notice on its website.
The 267,000 barrels-per-day oil processing facility, along with storage facilities for 14 million barrels, was in the midst of a modernization program to expand capacity to 380,000 bpd.
Elsewhere, waves of Iranian drones targeting a major oil field in Saudi Arabia were downed by Saudi air defenses but the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was struck by a drone, prompting the U.S. State department to order all “non-emergency” staff and family members to get out of the country.
In an alert on its website on Monday, the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Saudi Arabia cited “sustained missile and drone threats targeting American and diplomatic interests in the Kingdom.”
“Essential employees remaining will continue under a modified shelter-in-place status and are advised to avoid the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulate Dhahran. We recommend all Americans in the Kingdom do the same until further notice. To the extent possible, remain in your residence, hotel, or another structure, and stay away from windows,” the notice reads.
Attacks were also reported overnight in Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
So far, 10 people have been killed across the Gulf since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28. Most of them were security personnel and guest workers.
The death toll is in addition to the seven U.S. military personnel killed and estimated 1,230 civilians killed in strikes on Iran.
