All flights in and out of Kuwait Airport were suspended until further notice Wednesday after it was hit by Iranian missiles and drones, injuring several people and causing extensive damage amid an escalation in the U.S.-Iran war after the flared up again at the weekend. File photo by Stringer/EPA
Kuwait closed its main airport in Kuwait City on Wednesday after Iranian missile and drone strikes injured several people and caused “significant damage” to its main terminal building as renewed hostilities between the Iran and the United States escalated.
The airport activated its emergency plan, suspending all flights indefinitely after its Terminal 1 building was the target of “Iranian aggression, resulting in significant damage to several airport facilities, in addition to recording human injuries,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in an update on X.
DGCA spokesman Abdullah Al-Rajhi said it has been decided to suspend air traffic and divert flights to alternative airports until further notice pending the completion of repair work to enable the airport to resume operations, saying that inspection and comprehensive assessment by technical and specialized teams was already underway.
Kuwait International Airport only fully reopened on Monday after being closed on and off since the start of the war on Feb. 28.
The attack came hours after Iran and the United States and Iran exchanged fire across the region Tuesday with Iranian forces attacking its Gulf neighbors and the American military striking a vessel attempting to evade its naval blockade and launching “self-defense” strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
The airport was hit in the early hours, shortly after U.S. Central Command said a series of Iranian missiles and drones directed at its regional neighbors had either failed to reach their targets or been repelled by U.S. forces, including two Iranian missiles fired at Kuwait that “fell short or broke apart enroute,” and three others launched at Bahrain that were intercepted by U.S. and Bahrain air defense forces.
CENTCOM said later that an additional wave of Iranian drones targeting U.S. forces in Kuwait was downed by air defenses with no American personnel or assets harmed and dismissed as fake Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims they struck U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and a U.S. air base in the region with missiles and drones.
No U.S. personnel were harmed. CENTCOM forces remain vigilant and ready to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.
Moments earlier, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces shot down three one-way attack drones launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that were rightfully transiting regional waters. American forces also conducted self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island.
The American military also downed three attack drones launched by Iran toward civilian mariners that CENTCOM said were sailing legitimately in regional waters and struck on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island.
“No U.S. personnel were harmed. CENTCOM forces remain vigilant and ready to defend against unwarranted Iranian aggression during the ongoing cease-fire,” it said.
CENTCOM also released footage of a U.S. warplane firing a Hellcat missile at an empty Iran-bound oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz that it said ignored warnings to stop.
“U.S. Central Command enforced blockade measures against Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie as it transited international waters toward Kharg Island. The ship’s crew ignored repeated warnings, failing to comply with directions from U.S. forces multiple times over a 24-hour period. A U.S. aircraft ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran,” CENTCOM said.
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Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
