Hundreds of drones target Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE amid Iran war 

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday it has fired 230 drones at several facilities hosting US troops in the Middle East, including a base in Erbil in northern Iraq and the Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

The IRGC said the attacks were among its “first powerful steps” in the war, despite Iran having attacked Gulf Arab states for days since Israel and the United States launched their coordinated offensive on Saturday.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl was killed after being hit by falling shrapnel. “Resuscitation was performed in the ambulance while the girl was being transported to the hospital, and attempts continued for nearly half an hour upon arrival at Al-Amiri Hospital. However, she passed away due to her injuries,” the ministry said on X.

In Iraq, Al Jazeera Arabic reported that a drone targeted a logistical support facility of the US embassy in Baghdad, located near the Baghdad international airport. It followed a similar foiled drone attack on Tuesday near the airport, according to Iraq’s security media cell.

Two drones also targeted a US military base and a hotel in Erbil, in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, security sources told Reuters.

This comes after a building in Sulaimaniyah, in the Iraqi Kurdish region, was hit by a drone strike on Tuesday evening. Footage shared online and verified by Al Jazeera showed flames rising from a building amid reports of an explosion.

Saudi ⁠Arabia’s defence ministry said it ⁠intercepted and destroyed a drone ‌in the country’s Eastern Province. It did not immediately ⁠provide further ⁠details on the drone’s ⁠origin or ⁠whether ⁠the incident caused any damage ‌or casualties.

Strikes were also reported in the United Arab Emirates at the US consulate in Dubai and a port in the city of Fujairah.

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia and the US consulate in the UAE came under drone attacks on Tuesday, and the US State Department said on Wednesday that it had authorised nonemergency government personnel to evacuate.

Iran began hitting targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Gulf states after initial US-Israeli strikes on February 28, and the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Despite the barrage of drones, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from Qatar’s capital Doha, said the volume and frequency of the attacks on the Gulf were decreasing.

Yet, “the issue is that it does not take too many attacks to close airspace or cause disruptions,” Basravi said.

“So even if Iran is able to maintain a low level of attacks, that will continue being a problem for the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries caught up in this conflict.”