Kuwait mistakenly shoots down 3 US F-15E
Iran and allied armed groups fired missiles at Israel, Arab states and US military targets around the region on Monday, while Israel and the United States pounded Iran as the war expanded to several fronts.
Kuwait mistakenly shot down three American warplanes over its skies. The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the lack of any apparent exit plan indicated the conflict would not end anytime soon.
It was already having far-reaching consequences: Safe havens in the Mideast like Dubai have seen incoming fire; hundreds of thousands of airline passengers are stranded around the globe; oil prices shot up; and U.S. allies pledged to help stop Iranian missiles and drones.
Iran has long threatened, if attacked, to drag the region into total war, including targeting Israel, the Gulf Arab states and the flow of crude oil crucial for global energy markets. All of these came under attack on Monday. The chaos of the conflict became apparent when the U.S. military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles while attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones were underway. US Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition. Israel and the US bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
As several airstrikes hit Iran’s capital of Tehran, the top security official, Ali Larijani, vowed on X: “We will not negotiate with the United States.” The death toll grew on all sides. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the U.S.-Israeli operation has killed at least 555 people. In Israel, where several locations were hit by Iranian missiles, 11 people were killed.
The Hezbollah militant group also targeted Israel, which responded with strikes on Lebanon, killing more than two dozen people. Meanwhile, four American troops have been killed, and three people were reported killed in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
In Kuwait City, fire and smoke rose from inside the US Embassy compound, shortly after the US issued a warning to Americans to take cover and stay away from the complex. There were no immediate reports on damage or casualties.
