Explosions in Hawler, Gulf capitals as Iranian attacks escalate

Powerful explosions were heard today in Hawler, Doha, Manama, and Kuwait City amid escalating Iranian attacks on targets in Gulf countries, in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes against Iran.

An AFP correspondent reported hearing explosions near Hawler International Airport in the Kurdistan Region. Earlier in the morning, an AFP photographer confirmed that air defenses shot down at least two drones near the airport.

Since the start of the US-Israeli offensive against Iran, Hawler—home to a large US consulate complex—has faced repeated drone attacks, intercepted by air defense systems.

AFP correspondents also reported hearing strong explosions in Doha, Manama, and Kuwait City.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that “Iranian strikes resulted in the death of one person,” adding that “debris from a missile intercepted by air defenses ignited a fire on a foreign vessel in Salman City, leading to the death of one worker and serious injuries to two others.”

This brings the total number of fatalities in Gulf countries since Saturday to five: one killed in Kuwait, where 34 others were injured; 3 killed in the United Arab Emirates—of Pakistani, Nepali, and Bangladeshi nationalities—with 58 injured; and one killed in Bahrain.

For its part, Iranian authorities announced new waves of Operation “True Promise 4” against US forces in the region, targeting bases and naval facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as oil tankers in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters stated that the US Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait had been “taken out of service,” and that the US aircraft carrier Lincoln had been targeted with four cruise missiles, forcing it to withdraw from its position. The spokesperson also claimed the destruction of three U.S. naval facilities in Kuwait, the targeting of the U.S. naval base in Bahrain with four drones, and damage to three American and British oil tankers in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, US Central Command announced shortly before this report that three American soldiers were killed during the operation against Iran, without providing further details regarding the circumstances or timing of the incident.

A-H 

ANHA