Iran missile strike at Kuwait base damages US drones, injures Americans: Report

An Iranian ballistic missile strike on a US military facility in Kuwait damaged two MQ-9 Reaper drones and caused minor injuries to several American personnel, Bloomberg reported, citing a unnamed person familiar with the incident.The report said the Fateh-110 missile targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait within the past 24 hours. Although Kuwaiti air defences intercepted the missile, debris fell inside the base.According to the report, one MQ-9 Reaper drone was destroyed and another was severely damaged in the latest strike. The drones are valued at about $30 million each.At least five people, including US service members and contractors, sustained minor injuries in the incident. The strike came as the White House weighed a possible extension of the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. A meeting in the White House Situation Room ended without any public announcement, despite US President Donald Trump having earlier said he was prepared to make a “final determination” on a preliminary agreement.The development comes days after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a US air base in the region following fresh American strikes on southern Iran. While Kuwait confirmed it had intercepted what it described as “hostile missile and drone threats”, it did not identify the intended target.The missile launch followed US military action against Iranian assets. According to US officials, American forces shot down Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz and struck a military site in Bandar Abbas, a strategic port city in southern Iran.The latest hostilities have raised fresh concerns over the stability of the fragile US-Iran ceasefire, in place since April, as the conflict between Washington and Tehran enters its fourth month amid ongoing negotiations to extend the truce.The IRGC said its attack targeted “the source” of earlier US operations against Iran. US Central Command (Centcom) described the Iranian strike on Kuwait as an “egregious ceasefire violation”.Centcom had said the incident occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US military, all five drones were intercepted, while a sixth drone launched from a ground-control site in Bandar Abbas was also stopped.The US military said its actions were “measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire”.Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqai had condemned the US strikes, calling them a breach of the ceasefire. He said Iran would “take all necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty”, according to state broadcaster IRIB.Kuwait’s foreign ministry also condemned what it called “criminal Iranian attacks that targeted” its territory.