Iranian drone strike halts Kuwait airport again, causing casualties and damage

An Iranian drone strike forced Kuwait International Airport to suspend operations Wednesday.

Kuwait's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said in a statement Wednesday morning local time that "Terminal 1 of Kuwait International Airport was targeted by multiple hostile Iranian drones on Wednesday, June 3."

The attack caused significant material damage to the terminal, and several people were injured and received treatment, he said.

Kuwait's civil aviation authority suspended all flights at the airport and diverted incoming aircraft to alternate airports, state news agency KUNA reported. The halt came just two days after international passenger services at Terminal 1 resumed on Monday, June 1.

The airport had previously been damaged and knocked out of normal operation after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on neighboring countries in the immediate aftermath of a surprise U.S.-Israeli military offensive against Iran on Feb. 28.

Bahrain's military also said Wednesday it had shot down three Iranian missiles and several drones, condemning what it called Iran's "systematic hostile acts targeting civilian facilities" as a clear violation of international humanitarian law.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had earlier claimed it struck the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain and a U.S. Air Force base in Kuwait with missiles and drones. U.S. Central Command pushed back, saying all Iranian attacks had failed.