• Kuwait confirms several US military aircraft crashed Monday
• Defence ministry says all crew evacuated safely
• Iran earlier claimed US F-15 crashed in Kuwait
• Incident follows escalating US-Israel strikes on Iran
Kuwait on Monday, confirmed that a number of U.S military planes crashed earlier in the day with the state that all the occupants survived and are in good health. Kuwaitese state media reported that in a statement the Ministry of Defence said that the crashes had happened Monday morning and emergency procedures had been commenced. The ministry failed to specify the number of airplanes or the aircrafts.
Relevant authorities at once resorted to search and rescue, during which crews were moved to the hospital where they were examined regarding their health conditions and given medical assistance they needed. The report also said that the members of the crew were in full safety and that they were in stable conditions.
The ministry indicated that it had held direct coordination with the U.S. forces in terms of what happened in the incident as well as that they had also taken common technical action. The government is still in the investigatory process to establish the cause, the statement indicated and asked the people to trust official sources of information.
Past instances In the past, the Iranian media had announced that an American F-15 fighter jet had crashed in Kuwait, and videos were being spread on social media purportedly of a pilot chute launching just before a plane landed. In the video that was circulated widely online, one can see what appeared to be a parachute drifting out of the sky, whereas another video that local media sources broadcasted showed a person presumably being a U.S. pilot on the ground following his ejection. The authenticity of videos has not been alone consented.
Uncertainty Surrounds U.S. Aircraft Crashes Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
The events were covered by Iranian state-run media such as Tasnim News Agency. The United States had no official immediate statement as to the type of aircraft and the number of personnel that were affected and the cause of the crashes. Another question still lingered whether the planes were in combat missions associated with the current hostilities within the region or they were doing regular training exercises at the moment.
The incident follows the rising tensions in the Middle East after joint U.S. and Israel assaults on Iran against the missile and military infrastructures. The initial stage of that operation allegedly killed high-profile members in the Iranian leadership, such as the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which resulted in retaliatory drones and missiles by Tehran against U.S. assets and targets in the region.
Iran has also reacted by increased missile and drone flights over the Gulf area, with missiles reported struck in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. A number of the Gulf states closed their airspace temporarily as a precaution against increased security environment. Since then, the U.S. forces have undertaken further actions in the area and this is one of the most heated conflict between Washington and Tehran in the recent decades. Kuwaiti officials confirmed that the investigations of the airplane accidents on Monday were still continued, and more information would come out on the part of Kuwaiti and U.S. officials.
