Drone attack targets Kuwait airport, fuel tanks on fire: aviation agency

Kuwait City: Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said Wednesday that the Gulf state’s international airport had come under an Iranian drone attack that led to “a large fire” at fuel tanks.

“Kuwait International Airport has been subjected to blatant attacks by drones launched by Iran and the armed factions it supports,” the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted the spokesman of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation as saying.

The spokesman, Abdullah Al‑Rajhi, said “fuel storage tanks… were targeted, resulting in a large fire at the site”, reporting no casualties.

Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel and US allies in the Gulf since the start of the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes against the Islamic republic on February 28.

Elsewhere in the Gulf on Wednesday, Bahrain’s interior ministry said a fire broke out at a business facility “as a result of the Iranian aggression”.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said several drones were “intercepted and destroyed”.

A tanker was also hit in the waters off Qatar, a British maritime security agency said.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations said it had received a report of an incident 17 nautical miles (31 kilometres) north of Doha in which a “tanker has been hit by unknown projectile on the port side causing damage to the hull above water line. The crew are reported as safe.”

It added there was “no environmental impact” and that authorities were investigating the incident.

On Tuesday, KUNA said an Iranian attack sparked a fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker at Dubai Port, causing no injuries.

The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks in response to the US-Israeli strikes that sparked the war.

Tehran has threatened to target vital infrastructure across the Gulf, including energy sites.