By Sabiu Abdullahi
An Iranian drone strike on a United States military facility in Kuwait during the early stage of the war between Washington and Tehran has killed six American service members and left dozens of others seriously injured.
The attack targeted a tactical operations centre at Shuaiba port near Kuwait City on March 1, according to multiple sources cited by CBS News.
The strike occurred in the early hours of the conflict. It triggered a difficult rescue operation after thick smoke filled the building and trapped several personnel inside.
Sources said the situation at the scene was severe. Rescuers struggled to reach the wounded soldiers due to heavy smoke and scattered debris.
More than 30 American military personnel remained hospitalised as of Tuesday night after the attack.
One injured service member is receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Centre in San Antonio. Twelve others are being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre near Washington, D.C. About 25 additional troops are undergoing treatment at Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany.
Sources said about 20 wounded soldiers were transported to Germany on Tuesday aboard a C-17 military aircraft after their conditions were classified as urgent. Many of them reportedly suffered traumatic brain injuries, memory loss and severe concussions.
Military authorities also deployed over 100 additional medical personnel to the Landstuhl facility to support treatment for the wounded.
Two service members who were initially listed as missing after the strike were later discovered trapped under rubble, according to the sources.
The Pentagon earlier played down the scale of the casualties. On March 1, it stated that five troops had suffered serious injuries while several others sustained minor wounds such as shrapnel injuries and concussions.
Under United States military classification, a serious injury refers to a condition that requires medical attention where doctors believe death is possible but unlikely within 72 hours.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged the strike last week while speaking at the Pentagon. He said American air defence systems intercepted most of the incoming projectiles, although one drone managed to penetrate the defences.
“You have air defences, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it. Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through. And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons,” he said.
Hegseth noted that the drone struck a fortified tactical operations centre and emphasised the destructive power of the weapons used in the attack.
The Kuwait incident formed part of several Iranian strikes on American positions across the region after hostilities began.
At least one US service member was also killed in a separate attack in Saudi Arabia on the same day, although officials have not confirmed how many others were injured in that incident.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said around 140 American troops had sustained injuries since the start of the conflict. He did not specify the locations where the injuries occurred.
Parnell said most of the casualties were minor and confirmed that 108 service members had already returned to duty.
However, the Pentagon reported that eight troops remain severely injured and are currently receiving intensive medical care.
The United States military said its bases across the region are protected by extensive air defence systems designed to intercept Iranian missiles and drones. The March 1 attack, however, showed that some projectiles can still evade those defences and cause significant casualties.
