Images obtained by CBS News appear to show extensive damage at several US military sites in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia following Iranian strikes, according to the BBC. The photographs, supplied by active military personnel, depict a damaged radar aircraft, flattened trailers, destroyed temporary structures and buildings with severe damage.
One image reportedly shows a Boeing E-3 Sentry at Prince Sultan Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia torn apart, with its tail section crushed. The E-3 Awacs aircraft provide long-range detection and tracking of potential targets. The BBC said it had previously verified a similar image, apparently showing the same aircraft, while a US official told Reuters at the time that 12 personnel had been wounded in an attack on the base, including two seriously.
Other undated photographs reportedly taken at Camp Buehring in Kuwait show crumpled trailers and a tent-like structure reduced to fragments, with smoke rising from the site. A further image shows damage to a four-storey building at Camp Arifjan, also in Kuwait. The BBC said it was unclear whether that image related to an attack previously reported at the camp.
The BBC said the photographs had not been independently verified. The White House directed questions to US Central Command, which had not immediately responded to a request for comment. One unnamed military member quoted by CBS described the damage as significant and said it had not been communicated to the American public.
The images were released after a report by the Pentagon’s inspector general said Iranian strikes had damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan. That report put equipment losses at $3.7bn and said dozens of US aircraft had been damaged or destroyed, including five refuelling aircraft hit on the ground in Saudi Arabia.
A separate Congressional Budget Office report said the losses included aircraft, drones and a high-altitude air-defence system, with an estimated equipment replacement cost of $1.9bn. It cautioned that its assessment involved uncertainty because the Defence Department had not supplied requested information. The reports did not establish the full scale of planned repairs or rebuilding.