A fire broke out at a Kuwaiti power and water desalination plant on Sunday, 19 July, after what the country’s Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy Ministry described as a fresh Iranian attack. It was the second such strike on Kuwaiti power facilities in two days, the ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency KUNA, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
The damage was not small. The attack affected “a large number of generating units,” according to the ministry, which added that emergency plans had been activated and that crews responded immediately to contain the blaze. No figure for lost capacity has been published.
Saturday’s strikes
The first hit came the day before. Kuwaiti authorities reported a similar attack on Saturday, 18 July, and Kuwait Times relayed an announcement that a second power generation and water desalination plant had been targeted, with a fire in one of its components. The Airwars monitoring group, which logged the incident, quotes the Kuwaiti army saying the armed forces had detected ballistic missiles and drones in the country’s airspace since dawn and intercepted them.
Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan, the defence ministry spokesman, said the attacks reached oil, electricity and water facilities and caused fires and significant damage. Firefighters and oil sector workers were injured while doing their jobs and are receiving medical care. Debris from the interceptions fell on residential areas and caused material damage, he said, but no human casualties were reported.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation also reported several injuries and heavy material losses at an oil site hit repeatedly that morning. The injured were treated and the site was evacuated. Airwars, which noted at least one oil worker among the wounded and could not find the casualties’ names in local sources, graded the incident a “likely” Iranian attack. The Interior Minister, Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, visited injured firemen, according to a Kuwait Times post, and told the medical team they should get the highest standard of care.
The wider conflict
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry said the country reserves the right to take measures to protect its security and defend its territory and vital installations.
The strikes come as tensions between Washington and Tehran climb again. The US has launched attacks on Iran, and Tehran has hit back at facilities and bases it says are used by the US military in several countries in the region. That exchange comes despite a memorandum of understanding signed in June, brokered by Pakistan, meant to end the war and lead to a lasting peace agreement.
For Kuwait, the choice of targets matters. A plant that supplies both electricity and desalinated water serves two basic needs at once, and officials have not yet said how long repairs will take.
