Kuwait City (Web Desk): Three American fighter aircraft were unintentionally shot down by Kuwait’s air defence systems during combat operations on Monday, in what the United States (US) Central Command (Centcom) characterised as a probable friendly-fire episode amid mounting confrontation with Iran.
Centcom stated that the three F-15 Eagle jets were struck while active hostilities were under way, a period marked by Iranian aircraft incursions as well as incoming ballistic missiles and drone assaults. All six personnel on board managed to eject safely and were subsequently rescued, with officials confirming that their condition was stable.
The command noted that Kuwaiti authorities had formally recognised the mishap and that a joint investigation had been initiated to establish how the aircraft were mistakenly engaged.
Video circulating on social media captured a US warplane descending rapidly over Kuwaiti territory in the early hours of Monday, with one crew member visible deploying a parachute. Reuters verified the footage as originating from the Al Jahra district.
In a separate occurrence the same day, smoke was seen billowing from near the US Embassy compound in Kuwait City.
A witness told Reuters that emergency services, including ambulances and fire crews, had gathered in the vicinity. Neither the US Embassy in Kuwait nor the US State Department immediately responded to media inquiries regarding that incident.
Earlier, Kuwait reported intercepting hostile drones, marking the third consecutive day of Iranian retaliatory operations against Gulf states following US and Israeli strikes on Iranian soil. Iranian state media, quoting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, asserted that Iranian forces had hit a US aircraft that later went down in Kuwait.
Additional verified footage from Al Jahra showed a military jet plunging from the sky with a parachute opening nearby in the same frame. Separately, Kuwait’s National Petroleum Company said that two employees suffered minor injuries after debris fell at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery.
The US Embassy issued a security advisory cautioning American nationals about the continuing risk of missile and drone attacks across Kuwait. Citizens were urged not to visit the embassy and were advised to remain indoors, seek shelter on the lowest floor of their homes away from windows, and avoid venturing outside.
According to Kuwait’s state news agency, which cited the director-general of civil defence, most of the drones were intercepted near the Rumaithiya and Salwa neighbourhoods, and no casualties were reported in those areas.
International news outlet Reuters also reported hearing a succession of loud explosions on Monday morning in Dubai and in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Earlier in Kuwait, residents described hearing powerful blasts accompanied by warning sirens.
Tehran has pledged to strike US military facilities across the region in response to the weekend attacks by Washington and Israel.
Iranian operations have also impacted civilian and commercial sites in several Gulf cities, broadening the confrontation’s consequences for key aviation corridors and major trade hubs.