Kuwait probes drone that 'intruded' on day of Saudi strike

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait is investigating accounts that a drone intruded its airspace and flew over the royal palace Saturday, the same day a devastating strike was launched on Saudi oil infrastructure.

Yemen’s Huthi group claimed the attack on two oil facilities which cut Saudi production by half.

Baghdad on Sunday denied any link to attacks on Saudi oil plants, saying it is “constitutionally committed to preventing any use of its soil to attack its neighbors”.

Media reports speculated that a drone traveling south from Iraq to the eastern oilfields of Saudi Arabia could have travelled over the sea or through Kuwait’s airspace.

Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper said that at dawn on Saturday, an unmanned drone about the size of a small car came down to a height of about 250 meters over the palace, before turning on its lights and flying away.

Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah has ordered the beefing up of security measures around vital installations in the country, according to a government statement posted on Twitter on Sunday.

“Security officials have started the necessary investigation regarding the drone that was seen flying over the coastal area of Kuwait City,” it said.

Al-Rai said that the drone continued for a considerable period of time and flew over the seaside residential palace of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah who is undertaking medical tests in the United States.

Kuwait is an OPEC member which has land borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia and shares sea borders with Iran.