Watch: Kuwait releases footage of Iranian drone strike on airport terminal

Iran has once again attacked Kuwait's international airport with a Shahed-type drone targeting the airport's primary terminal causing civilian causalities.

Kuwait Airways Airbus A330 neo is taxiing at MXP Milano Malpensa international airport

Kuwait has published footage of yesterday’s Iranian strike on its Kuwait International Airport. The footage shows the “first moments of the brutal Iranian aggression via drones” as they struck Terminal 1.

Kuwait releases footage of strike on int’l airport

The footage shows the Shahed-type drone striking the terminal from multiple angles, as well as footage from the impact inside the terminal and pictures of the aftermath taken afterwards.

The Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority said the strike “resulted in loss of life, serious injuries, and extensive material damage.”

Meanwhile, Reuters cited Kuwaiti authorities reporting that the strikes killed one person and injured more than 60. For its part, the US military said it carried out a new round of “defensive strikes” on targets in southern Iran.

Following the strikes, Kuwait “suspended air traffic and diverted flights to alternative airports until further notice.”

Kuwait airport resumes flights after drone strike

Just two hours after announcing the flight suspension, the Kuwaiti Civil Aviation Authority announced the resumption of all flights through Terminal 4 after a damage assessment.

About five hours after the suspension, it announced the resumption of Jazeera Airways flights through Terminal 5. As of the time of writing, it hasn’t announced the resumption of flights through Terminal 1.

Flight operations at Kuwait International remain heavily disrupted, and many international carriers have cancelled or suspended flights to Kuwait (including since the start of Operation Epic Fury).

As of the time of writing, FlightRadar24 shows flag-carrier Kuwait Airways and Kuwait’s low-cost Jazeera Airways operating. Other non-cancelled scheduled flights for today include Qatar Airways, Nesma Airlines, Fly Cham, MEA, and (ironically) Iran Air.

Kuwait Airways Airbus 330-800 neo arriving at Frakfurt Airport
Photo: stawka | stock.adobe.com

Today’s scheduled flights by Egyptair, Air India Express, Etihad, Emirates, flydubia, Air Arabia, and Gulf Air are cancelled.

Get the latest aerospace defence news here on AGN.

Kuwait has been the epicentre of Iranian attacks

Kuwait sits close to Iran and is a major base for US forces in the region. The small kingdom has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the Iran air campaign outside of Iran.

F-15E pilot ejecting using the ACES ejector seat
Photo: RTX

A rogue Kuwaiti pilot shot down three unsuspecting friendly US F-15E Strike Eagles in the worst incident for US fighter jets for decades. All pilots safely ejected. It has recently been confirmed that one of the pilots was shot down a second time by Iran.

The shoot-down triggered an enormous rescue operation and an intense manhunt, resulting in the successful extraction of both pilots from deep behind enemy lines.

Kuwait has also seen numerous military aircraft destroyed on the ground. One Italian MQ-9 Reaper was destroyed, and two Italian Eurofighters were damaged.

Open-source accounts report that two Kuwaiti Eurofighters were destroyed on the ground. The loss of Eurofighters has not been confirmed by Kuwaiti authorities.

The US appears to have lost a Boeing CH-47 Chinook and a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter. Bloomberg reported on the 30th of May that two US Reapers had been seriously damaged on the ground, with US personnel injured.

This said, there is an enormous information bias as Iranian strikes on Gulf countries are highly telegraphed, while the internet remains largely shut off in Iran. The Iranian air campaign was incredibly one-sided when measured by shot exchange, which is estimated by experts to have been around 30:1.

Featured Image: Matteo Ceruti | stock.adobe.com

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